Grumman's TBF prototype made its first successful flight on December 15, 1941, and coming so soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the plane was christened the Avenger. The three-seat torpedo-bomber entered US Navy service just in time for the Battle of Midway. All carrier-based torpedo squadrons were re-equipped with Avengers, and demand for the plane was so great that General Motors was also contracted to build virtually identical planes under the designation TBM.
Wings on the Avenger were designed to be folded back laterally along the fuselage to alleviate the height problem upward-folding wings caused on carrier hangar decks. The hydraulically-powered wings could be folded or unfolded by the pilot in seconds with no help from ground crews. The second major variant featured strengthened wings to allow rockets and radar pods to be carried.
In June 1944, Ensign George Herbert Walker Bush was flying a TBF Avenger like the one displayed on Lexington's hangar deck when the plane took enemy fire and the crew was forced to ditch in the ocean. Ensign Bush and his crew were picked up by an American destroyer and transferred to the USS Lexington, then returned to their own carrier, the USS San Jacinto.
Avengers became the Navy's standard and most effective torpedo bomber in World War II. They were key against German U-boats in the Atlantic, and teamed with dive bombers in the Pacific, Avengers helped destroy both of the world's largest battleships - the Musashi and the Yamato.
SPECIFICATIONS
- Wingspan - 54' 2"
- Length - 40'
- Height - 16' 5"
- Empty Weight - 10,843 lbs
- Maximum Weight - 18,250 lbs
- Armament - Two forward-firing .50 caliber machine gunes, One .30 caliber machine gun in ventral gun position, One .50 caliber machine gun in a Grumman 150SE power turret, Internally, One MK13 torpedo or 2,000 .bs bombs, External, depth charges and/or rocket launchers.
- Power Plant - One Wright $-2600-20 rated at 1900hp
- Maximum Speed - 267 mph @ 16,000'
- Service Ceiling - 23,400'
- Range - 1,130 miles
- Crew - Three (Pilot, Bombardier/Radio Operator and Gunner)
This A-4 is on loan from the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola, Florida.
Click on a plane to view it's description.
|
