Our Warbird Restoration Project Collection Grows With Purchase of a Second TBM-3 Avenger
Thomas Jefferson once said to Hugh P. Taylor, "I agree with you that it is the duty of every good citizen to use all the opportunities, which occur to him, for preserving documents relating to the history of our country" (source), and we agree, and will do our part as citizens to use the opportunities we have to preserve historic aircraft. That’s why we are excited to announce our latest opportunity of preservation with the purchase of a TBM-3 Avenger, serial number 85597. We purchased the project in late 2022, and recently began the move from Nevada to Minnesota where we will someday restore the aircraft to its original condition.
Avenger History
The Avenger first entered the service in 1942, and eventually became one of the most outstanding torpedo bombers of World War II. The original Avenger, designated TBF, was designed and manufactured by Grumman until 1943 when they began focusing on fighters, specifically the F5F Hellcat. Under a wartime contract with Grumman, the Eastern Division of General Motors continued building the TBF, but designated them as “TBM.” The Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors built 3,757 TBM-3 variants until production ended in 1945. The TBM-3 variant had added armor, including wing guns, a radar, and the ability to carry 2,000-pound torpedoes or 2,500-pound bombs. By the end of the war, approximately 9,836 TBF/TBM Avengers had been built.
The History of Serial Number 85597
Our newest TBM-3E, serial number 85597, was one of those 3,373 built at the Eastern Aircraft Division in the 1940s. It came off the assembly line later in the war and never saw any combat, but made its debut serving in other ways. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the TBM was modified to serve as a sub hunter, and later it was modified again to serve as a fire bomber in Canada. Eventually, the CAF in Florida acquired the avenger with a goal of restoring the TBM-3 back to its original and credible condition during WWII. Around 2012, the Avenger moved from Florida to Carson City, Nevada, where some additional restoration work was done, but mostly where the aircraft was stored in a climate friendly environment.
In the fall of 2022, our team at Fagen Fighters started investigating the TBM, and made it our mission to make it a part of our growing warbird collection. We already have one TBM-3 Avenger in storage, as well as some necessary parts, but we purchased this one with the goal in mind to restore one aircraft to airworthy condition and the other aircraft to static display. We don’t know when the restoration will begin, but we are full of anticipation that this Avenger will join the fleet in the skies again someday.
