This series is dedicated to the gallant service performed by the brave airmen of World War 2 who risked all so that we may enjoy our American way of life. The phrase “Big Brother, Little Brother” refers to the way the heavy bomber and fighter escort aircraft pilots called each other on the radio chatter.
On a personal note, my father “John” served as a flight engineer on a B-25 Mitchell out of Italy in 1944 and 1945. He made it back alive, as did my father-in-law “Danny” who served as a belly gunner on a B-24 Liberator out of Libya. “Danny” was one of the few airmen who flew in both Ploesti oil field raids to Romania (June 1942 and August 1943) and did so without so much as a scratch. He flew his 25 missions and returned to the US as a gunnery instructor (Lead, Dammit, Lead!).
Finding all the caches will display a GeoArt form of the Big Brother, Little Brother relationship on your map. The caches were not meant to be difficult to find. If you can’t find a cache, it’s probably missing. Send me a picture of the location by email, I’ll accept the find and replace the cache.
TBF Avenger
The Grumman TBF Avenger was a torpedo bomber developed initially for the United States Navy and Marine Corps, and eventually used by several air or naval arms around the world. It entered U.S. service in 1942, and first saw action during the Battle of Midway. Six TBF-1s were present on Midway Island, as part of VT-8 (Torpedo Squadron 8), while the rest of the squadron flew Devastators from the Hornet. Unfortunately, both types of torpedo bombers suffered heavy casualties. Out of the six Avengers, five were shot down and the other returning heavily damaged with one of its gunners killed, and the other gunner and the pilot injured.
Nonetheless, the US torpedo bombers were credited with drawing away the Japanese combat air patrols so the American dive bombers could successfully hit the Japanese carriers. Author Gordon Prange argued in Miracle at Midway that the outdated Devastators (and lack of new aircraft) contributed somewhat to the lack of a complete victory at Midway (the four Japanese fleet carriers were sunk directly by dive bombers instead). Others pointed out that the inexperienced American pilots and lack of fighter cover were responsible for poor showing of US torpedo bombers, regardless of type. Later in the war, with improving American air superiority, attack coordination, and more veteran pilots, Avengers were able to play vital roles in the subsequent battles against Japanese surface forces.
On 24 August 1942, the next major naval battle occurred at the Eastern Solomons. Based on the carriers Saratoga and Enterprise, the 24 TBFs present were able to sink the Japanese light carrier Ryūjō and claim one dive bomber, at the cost of seven aircraft.
The first major "prize" for the TBFs was at the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November 1942, when Marine Corps and Navy Avengers helped sink the battleship Hiei.
Grumman TBF Avenger
General characteristics-
Crew: 3
Length: 40 ft 11.5 in
Wingspan: 54 ft 2 in
Height: 15 ft 5 in
Wing area: 490.02 ft²
Empty weight: 10,545 lb
Loaded weight: 17,893 lb
Powerplant: 1 × Wright R-2600-20 radial engine, 1,900 hp
Performance-
Maximum speed: 275 mph
Range: 1,000 mi
Service ceiling: 30,100 ft
Rate of climb: 2,060 ft/min
Armament-
Guns:
1 × 0.30 in nose-mounted M1919 Browning machine gun(on early models)
2 × 0.50 in wing-mounted M2 Browning machine guns
1 × 0.50 in dorsal-mounted M2 Browning machine gun
1 × 0.30 in ventral-mounted M1919 Browning machine gun
Rockets:
Up to eight 3.5-Inch Forward Firing Aircraft Rockets, 5-Inch Forward Firing Aircraft Rockets or High Velocity Aerial Rockets
Bombs:
Up to 2,000 lb of bombs or
1 × 2,000 lb Mark 13 torpedo
Survivors
Airworthy-
TBM-3S Avenger, BuNo. 53119 owned by Wilson Edwards Jr. in Big Spring, TX.
TBM-3 Avenger, BuNo. 53353 owned by Commemorative Air Force in Portage Des Sioux, MO.
TBM-3S Avenger, BuNo. 53420 owned by the Tri-State Warbird Museum in Batavia, OH.
TBM-3S Avenger, BuNo. 53503 owned by Commemorative Air Force in Grand Junction, CO.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 53575 owned by Jack Erickson in Beaverton, OR.
TBM-3U Avenger, BuNo. 53768 owned by Thomas Buck in Joliet, IL.
TBM-3U Avenger, BuNo. 53785 owned by Palm Springs Air Museum in Palm Springs, CA.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 53787 owned by Environmental Aviation Services Inc. in Fernandina Beach, FL.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 53818 owned by 938138 LLC in Mounds View, MN.
TBM-3 Avenger, BuNo. 53835 owned by Russcon LCC in Scottsdale, AZ.
TBM-3S Avenger, BuNo. 53638 owned by the Mid-Atlantic Air Museum in Reading, PA.
TBM-3U Avenger, BuNo. 69329 owned by Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston, TX.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 69459 owned by War Eagles Air Museum in Santa Teresa, NM.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 85632 owned by TBM Avenger Inc. in Eureka, IL.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 85650 owned by Simmons Aviation Services LCC in Pawcatuck, CT.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 85882 owned by David L. Tinker in Northville, MI.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 85886 owned by POB Inc. in Dover, DE.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 85983 owned by Charles G. Wentworth in Paso Robles, CA.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 86280 owned by Cavanaugh Flight Museum in Addison, TX.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 91264 owned by Planes of Fame in Chino, CA.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 91388 owned by Missionair Inc. in Danbury, CT.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 91453 owned by Chris Johnson in Fort Valley, VA.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 91521 owned by Freeberg Family LLP in Escondido, CA.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 91598 owned by Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, FL.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 91726 owned by Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, OR.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 91733 owned by Clark Hill in Wentworth, NH.
On display-
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 24803 at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum at Pier 86 in NY, NY.
TBM-3 Avenger, BuNo. 53229 at the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, TX.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 53403 at the National Museum of the Pacific War at the Pacific Combat Zone in Fredericksburg, TX.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 53575 at the Tillamook Air Museum in Tillamook, OR.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 53593 at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 53726 at the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum in Miramar, CA.
TBM-3S Avenger, BuNo. 53804 is on display in the hangar deck of the USS Lexington (CV-16) museum in Corpus Christi, TX.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 53842 is on display in the hangar deck of the USS Yorktown (CV-10) at the Patriot's Point Naval and Maritime Museum in Charleston, SC.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 69375 is on display in the hangar deck of the USS Hornet (CV-12) in Alameda, CA.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 69472 at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, AZ.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 85890 at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, VA.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 85957 at the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum in San Diego, CA.
TBM-3 Avenger, BuNo. 86123 at the USS Hornet (CV-12) in Alameda, CA.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 91164 at the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 91586 at the Cradle of Aviation Museum, Garden City, Long Island, NY.
Under restoration-
TBF-1C Avenger, BuNo. 0628 by the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, FL.
TBF-1C Avenger, BuNo. 05997 by the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, CA.
TBF-1C Avenger, BuNo. 05954 by the Indiana World War Memorial Plaza in Indianapolis, IN.
TBM-3 Avenger, BuNo. 23602 by the New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, CT.
TBF-1C Avenger, BuNo. 47887 by the Parts Avenger Northwest LCC in Beaverton, OR.
TBM-3S Avenger, BuNo. 53139 by Pissed Away N6VC LCC in Bellevue, WA.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 53454 by the Training Services Inc. in Virginia Beach, VA.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 53829 by Tri-State Warbird Museum in Wahpeton, ND.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 53914 by the Quonset Air Museum, North Kingstown, RI.
TBM-3 Avenger, BuNo. 69323 by Andrew Donohue in Sapulpa, OK.
TBM-3U Avenger, BuNo. 69325 by 45 Avenger LCC in Seattle, WA.
TBM-3S Avenger, BuNo. 85460 by FEW TBMS LLC in Rio Grande, NJ.
TBM-3S Avenger, BuNo. 85597 by Commemorative Air Force in DeLand, FL.
TBM-3 Avenger, BuNo. 85715 by Wes Stricker in Rolla, MO.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 85717 by Edwin E. Forsberg in Wilmington, CA.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 85794 by Hans Lauridsen in Carefree, AZ.
TBM-3U Avenger, BuNo. 91188 by the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum in Titusville, FL.
TBM-3U Avenger, BuNo. 91426 by the Commemorative Air Force in Brandy Station, VA.
TBM-3U Avenger, BuNo. 91436 by Charles Cartledge in Wadsworth, OH.
TBM-3E Avenger, BuNo. 91714 by Wes Stricker in Columbia, MO.