Grumman TBF-1C Avenger

From The Air Combat Wiki

Contents 1 Fighter Ace Screenshots 2 Fighter Ace Ratings 3 Fighter Ace Performance 4 Historical Statistics 5 Strengths 6 Weaknesses 7 History 8 Sources 9 See Also

Fighter Ace Screenshots

Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ
Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ

Fighter Ace Ratings

Durability: 6

Speed: 4

Maneuverability: 7

Firepower: 2

Climb Rate: 1

Ground Attack: 3

Fighter Ace Performance

Top Speeds						Climb Rates
	Sea Level	4921' 1500m	9843' 3000m	19685' 6000m	Best Speed	Best IAS	to 1000m	to 3000m	to 6000m
mph	249	252	253	261	267@ 16404'	155 mph	2:53	9:44	23:57
kph	401	405	407	420	430@ 5000m	250 kph

Historical Statistics

Service Date: May 1942

Primary Guns: 1x Browning M2 0.5" (12.7mm) machine guns with 600 rpg in wing

Secondary Guns: 1x Browning M2 0.5" (12.7mm) machine guns with 600 rpg in wing

Defensive Guns: 1x Browning M2 0.5" (12.7mm) machine gun with 400 rpg in dorsal turret and 1x Browning 0.3" (7.62mm) machine gun with 500 rpg in ventral tunnel position

Ordnance: 1x 1,927 lb Mk.13 torpedo or 12x 100 lb (45 kg) or 6x 250 lb (113 kg) or 4x 500 lb (227 kg) or 2x 1000 lb (454 kg) or 1x 2000 lb (907 kg) bombs in internal bomb bay, plus 2x 348 lb (158 kg) drop tanks under inner wings, plus 8x 55 lb (25 kg) 3.5" rockets under outer wings. Maximum load of 2500 lbs.

Engine(s): Wright Cyclone R-2600-8 radial rated for 1,700 hp at sea level

Int Fuel Capacity: 2,010 lbs (912 kg)

Ext Fuel Capacity: 696 lbs (316 kg)

Maximum Speeds: 249 mph (401 kph) at sea level, 257 mph (414 kph) at 12,000 ft (3,658 m)

Ceiling: 21,400 ft (6,523 m)

Loaded Weight: 16,412 lbs (7,444 kg)

Wing Area: 490 sq ft (45.5 sq m)

Wing Loading: 33.5 lbs/sq ft (163.6 kg/sq m)

Strengths

Ground Attack: Featuring a bomb load of 2,000 lbs. and a barrage of eight 55 lb. rockets, the Avenger was capable of dealing a lot of damage to ground targets.

Durability: Like all Grumman designs, the TBF has the ability to absorb huge amounts of damage and still stay airborne.

Weaknesses

Maneuverability: Don't let the single engine fool you, this is a big, heavy airplane and handles as such.

History

The Douglas TBD Devastator was slow and short-ranged and during the 1939 modernization of the carrier air arm, which saw the introduction of the SBD Dauntless and the F4F Wildcat, the need for a new torpedo-bomber was obvious. So in October, the Navy issued specifications for design proposals and out of all submissions, the Chance Vought and Grumman designs stood out as best.

Vought was primarily committed to their F4U fighter design and sold their torpedo-bomber design to Consolidated. Meanwhile, relying heavily on engineering from production of the Wildcat, the XTBF-1 exceeded the Navy's rigid specifications in all but top speed and 286 TBF-1s were ordered in December 1940. One of the deciding factors in the adoption of the TBF was the company's rearward folding wing design, which saved space and allowed more planes to be carried on the hanger deck.

Capable of a top speed of just of 270 mph, the XTBF had a three-man crew, including a dedicated gunner and a combined radio operator/bombardier/gunner in addition to the pilot. The internal bay could carry a single 2000 lb. torpedo, up to four 500 lb. bombs and a variety of other stores including depth charges, mines, and a 270-gallon fuel tank. Armament consisted of a single .50 caliber machine gun in the dorsal power turret, augmented by a .30 caliber flexibly mounted machine gun in the ventral position and another .30 mounted in the cowl. With final acceptance testing taking place right after Pearl Harbor, the plane was christened the Avenger and the Navy changed the contract from 286 to an open-ended production order with no limit.

With the expected clash at Midway about to happen, six TBF-1s were rushed to Midway where they attacked the Japanese fleet unsuccessfully, five being shot down with the sixth barely able to limp back to a crash landing on the island. However, despite the inauspicious beginning, all TBD units in the Navy were equipped with TBF-1s during the next sixty days.

Acting on field modifications to address the need for more forward firepower, Grumman added a single .50 caliber machine gun in each wing root outboard of the propeller arc to eliminate the need for interrupter gear. The new wing went into production on July 12, 1943 and the resulting modification was dubbed the TBF-1C. Later enhancements included the addition of four rocket rails under each wing to allow the use of 3" rockets, increasing the ground attack potential of the plane.

By this time Eastern Aircraft (a division of General Motors) was producing the majority of Avengers under the designation TBM. In December 1943, Eastern assumed full production of the Avenger and over 77 percent of Avenger production during the war would be done by Eastern, a total of 7,546 TBMs.

Sources

Scrivner, Charles L.; TBM/TBF Avenger In Action, Aircraft Number 82; Squadron/Signal Publications, Carrollton, Texas; 1987.

Brown, Eric; Wings Of The Navy, Flying Allied Carrier Aircraft of World War Two; Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland; 1980.

See Also

Fighter Ace Planes Inventory

Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation

Aircraft Manufacturers During World War II