TBM
I found this photo on a web site called NAVSOURCE. It is a damaged TBM from the USS Bennington. There was no other info. The photo is very interesting.
posted by Carl at 7:36 AM
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
I found this photo on a web site called NAVSOURCE. It is a damaged TBM from the USS Bennington. There was no other info. The photo is very interesting.
8 Comments:
My dad was the tail gunner on one of those in 1945. He said that it was a real study aircraft, as the picture shows. He did have some time (two days) in the water when his plane went down however...
--Wes
your Dad must have had some story. what did he say happened?
We had spoken about the incident a while back, but I have since forgotten what happened. I know that he did use the experience to get out of water survival training when he switched over to the Air Force :-) He was a crusty E7 by that time ending up with 33 years in service.
I'll ask when I talk to him next and see if he can remind me about it. He did love the picture however and said that it brought back some memories.
--Wes
From what my dad tells me, it was a pretty simple (albeit frightening) event. They took off from the carrier, lost power just afterwards and went down. For whatever reason, they couldn't be picked up right away and sat around for just over a day. He says it was "just one of those things that happened back then."
--Wes
living back then was a bit harder than living now.
if you can, you should have your Dad write down what he remembers. failing that maybe you could tape record his stories. imagine how your grandchildren will view his recollections.
Carl, that is a really important point. Those types of stories will only live on if people record them. It's historically important that those stories survive long into the future.
I met a B-17 Pilot in the Tucson air museum and I didn't know he was a pilot until he started telling us about the escape hatch and the tricks you had to keep in mind when using them. We asked how he knew so much and he casually mentioned he got shot down over Poland when a ME-109 straifed (sp?) them while coming at them in a frontal dive out of the sun which was his blind spot. After hearing that I just thought that anything I had to say was beyond inane. As such, I kind of sat there with my jaw hanging open and finally said "that's amazing." I went on to pepper him with 20 minutes of questions. Turns out that he went on to be a insurance salesman after the war and raised 2 sons. I think he said something like his greatest accomplishment being "raising two great boys." Apparently the Nazi's couldn't match that which 2 sons can throw at you so the accomplishment that they turned out great was all the more rewarding - this last part is my speculation. :)
On a side note - how the heck did the plane in this picture stay flyable in spite of missing a third of a wing? I'm assuming this was a dive bomber?
Tony:
click on the photo for a larger view and you can see all the damage to the airplane.
the windscreen is partly shot away so the pilot is partially subject to a wind in excess of 100 knots.
the pitot tube was mounted on the left wing tip so he has no airspeed indicator.
because so much of the left wing is missing the airplane wants roll hard to the left and the pilot has to fight that with opposite stick, probably with muscle power only (I can't tell from the photo if the aileron trim system is intact). you can see the right aileron is displaced and the pilot looks to be using both hands on the stick.
plus, part of the aft fuselage is gone and who knows how that is affecting the handling of the airplane.
this was a very difficult situation. the Avenger was a torpedo bomber.
Do you know what ever happend to this crew on this day? Did they safely land on a carrier or on land? Did they end up ditching the plane close to a carrier???
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