POST AVENGER FINDS AND DISCUSSION HERE!

[Gusthebus]

There are 7 Avengers at the WM in Colorado Springs off Cimarron. Let me know if anyone in Colorado finds the Smoke II. Thanks.

[lucifuhrman]

After years of waiting I got my Avenger from Wal Mart in Sonora, CA. There is joy in the household! However, I just got done assembling it and one of the tail wings had a busted retaining tab, right out of the box. Now the rear left tail wing sits cock-eyed and droopy

I supposed I'll try 21st C. directly and see if they can send me just a replacement wing. If no wing guess I'll be going after it with super glue.

Oh well, guess ya can't win em all.

You had the same problem i did...since mine was given to me i could not exchange it.
My Walmart does not have them yet.
But i used the crazy glue and it won't hold it for very long ...due to the weight.
So i drilled two holes in the center of it and put round plastic rods in between the openings and bingo it worked.
JP

Where did you get the plastic rods?

[tmanthegreat]

FOUND ONE!!!

I came across 3 Avengers in the Bakersfield, Ca Wal Mart while heading back from a trip to Los Angeles. It was sort of a random stop and bam - they were there! I guess this means they are in California's central valley, though, of course not in the Fresno area 100 mi north.

As for a review, all that has been said has already been said. That plane is huge and awesome and I'm glad to finally realize the dream of seeing one in person

[Sabrefan]

I still have not found an Avenger. Man I am getting bummed.

[tmanthegreat]

About 20 or so pages ago on this thread, someone made the observation that one of the pilot figures in the Avenger looked like a young Geroge Bush Sr. (presumably for the proposed Bush Avenger). Well, I think the other pilot looks kind of like Pappy Boyington. Remember, 21c was going to do that "Legends" series starting with Boyington's Corsair - and they showed pictures of the figure. What do you all think:



Well, perhaps this is the Bush figure, but it sure looked like Boyington to me in person

[mediump]

Tman, the resemblance is uncanny

[tko211]

The LEGENDS series Corsair has not been released, I know it was planned and several times it was close to final production line up but was delayed. I think we will still see it and I think the LEGENDS series is still a go When exactly is another story?

[tmanthegreat]

Glad others think he looks like Pappy - we now have our Avenger with a crew of aviation legends: Bush Sr., Boyington, and Ira Kepford (since that's who the XD Corsair pilot's head origionally belonged to)

BTW, now that I've got this thing setup - it is really, really huge! The detail is incredible as well. They even got the radio deep in the plane's interior under the turret!

[VMF115]

Enlisted in U.S. Navy on his 18th birthday - June 12, 1942
Earned the "Wings of Gold" Naval Aviator Rating June 9, 1943 at the age of 18 years, 11 months, and 27 days
Qualified as carrier pilot on USS Sable August 24, 1943
Assigned to VT-51 aboard the new carrier San Jacinto CVL-30 as part of Task Force 58 in May, 1944
Doomed flight on September 2, 1944, while attacking Japanese held island of Chichi Jima he was shot down and lost his two crewmen: John Delaney ARM-3C, and Lt. (JG) Ted White, Squadron Ordinance Officer
Rescued by the submarine Finback SS-230
Returned to his squadron and flew twelve more missions, thereby totaling 58 combat missions.


http://www.rockymountainwingcaf.org/tbm ... 7~17~19~19

[VMF115]

The prototype TBF was designed in 1940 by Bill Schwendler of Grumman Aircraft. It first flew on August 1, 1941. The TBF was primarily designed to replace the obsolete Douglas TBD Devastator.
Once accepted by the Navy, Grumman built 2,291 TBFs before General Motors, Eastern Aircraft Division, began building them under license from Grumman. These identical aircraft were designated as TBMs with GM building 7,546 for a type total of 9,837.

Early models of both the TBF and TBM had Wright R-2600-8 engines developing only 1700 hp. Later production saw increases in power up to 1900 hp with the Wright R-2600-20 engine. TBM-3s, with nearly 4,000 being built, had the more powerful engines. This required more cooling, the oil cooler was moved to the lower engine cowl lip and four more cowl flaps were added to each side. These changes and the removal of the 30 caliber ventral "stinger" gun are the primary visual differences between early and later model Avengers.




TBM-3 specifications
Dimensions Wing span 52'2", Length 40'0', width with wings folded 16 ft
Height 16 ft 5 inches
Weight Empty 10,843 lbs
Max/Gross 18,250 lbs
Power Wright R-2600-20 engine, 1900 hp.
Max Speed 267 mph at 16,000 ft.
Ceiling 23,400 ft
Range 1,130 miles ( 2,265 miles with aux. fuel tank.)
Fuel, (std) 325 US Gallons.( 2 x 90 and I x 145)
Oil 32 US gallons
Crew (std) Three; pilot, gunner, radioman

Armament and Weapons
The TBF/TBM carries 2,000 lbs. of munitions. It could carry one 2,000 lb torpedo; four 500 lb bombs or depth charges, twenty 100 lb bombs, rockets, mines or an auxiliary fuel tank of 275 gallons.

At first the TBF-1 TBM had a .30 cal gun mounted on the cowl, a 30 cal ventral gun (stinger) and a .50 cal turret gun. In 1943 the cowl gun was replaced by two .50 cal guns in the wings and the ventral "stinger" was removed.

The first torpedo's were the Mark 13 models with poor performance having to be dropped at less than 100 mph and 100 ft. In 1943 the Mark 13-IA (ringtail) torpedo was deployed and could be dropped from a speed of up to 280 mph and 800 ft. Various techniques were used by different squadrons and pilots.

Bombs were dropped by the pilot, either in a cluster or, using the "intervalometer" (set by the radioman) in a four-bomb stick. The pilot usually entered a 30 to 45 degree dive to about 500 ft elevation before releasing the bombs. A four-bomb stick, spaced 60 to 75 ft apart was used on maneuvering ships.

TBF/TBM Avenger In Battle
Avengers are mostly known for their successes in the Pacific Theater attacking Japanese naval ships and land bases. TBMs flew from CVE escort and CV fast attack carriers as well as from U.S. held land bases. The Pacific Theater was a carrier war with TBM'S, SBD's and SB2C's sinking enemy ships and destroying their island bases.

In the North Atlantic, TBMs are credited with stopping the German submarine "wolfpacks". Deployed on CVEs, each with 20 to 28 TBMs, they accompanied convoys of allied ships. They could fly submarine patrols all day and night attacking German subs with machine guns, rockets, depth charges and bombs.

The last 24 TBMs were delivered to the Navy in August 1945. TBM were retired from US. Navy active service in June 1954

http://www.rockymountainwingcaf.org/TBM ... 6~16~17~17

[demetrop]

C44, I had went to the Centereach WM about 6:00PM on Saturday and saw 8 Avengers on a lower shelf, so it must have been a restock. After selecting the plane I wanted, I woman (who was also with a man) took 5 of them. This happened only minutes after I was by that shelf. They could have been hobbyshop owners. Earlier that day, I went to the WM, in Islandia and there were no Avengers at all.

[bigsarge]

hello to everyone.i am on the hunt in mississippi.no luck yet,however i did a sku# search at the wm i frequent the most and the toy department manager said they could order it from a supplier and it would be here in 2 weeks. not gonna wait that long.gotta take a trip to fort sill this week.hope to walmart surf on the way and hit avenger paydirt.

[Teamski]

hello to everyone.i am on the hunt in mississippi.no luck yet,however i did a sku# search at the wm i frequent the most and the toy department manager said they could order it from a supplier and it would be here in 2 weeks. not gonna wait that long.gotta take a trip to fort sill this week.hope to walmart surf on the way and hit avenger paydirt.

Welcome tothe board! Let us know how it goes.....

-Ski

[Teamski]

FOUND ONE!!!

Yay!! I'm happy you got one!

-Ski

[flpickupman]

I talked a little trash about not buying an Avenger because of the screw hole plugs. Yeah right. Once I laid eyes on one, I couldn't resist! This plane is well worth it, dispite the flaws.

I learned a little this weekend, and thought I'd share it with you folks. The reason I'm posting this is because it was not immediately intuitive to me, and it took me about an hour and a half to work it out. Hope this saves at least one member some grief.

Removing the canopy prior to fooling around with the turret ball and also to place the pilot makes life a lot easier.

First, pluck the sliding doors off of the canopy.





The canopy will simply lift off at this point.



Remove the turret bubble, and gently press the pivot pin inwards to remove it from the socket.



Here you can see the pin out of the socket.



Then gently pivot the turret ball up and down while pulling the remaining pivot pin from its socket.



Then your turret ball comes out of the plane, allowing you to place the figure. Installation is the reverse of removal.



Hope this was helpful.

[Threetoughtrucks]

Wow, thanks for the info Flpick.... looks just great.

Gives new meaning to the word "ear plugs" with that .50 cal gun firing right next to your ear. Close quarters in WW2.

TTT

[flpickupman]

I was thinking the same thing when I got him situated. We all know how effective those headsets were for keeping out exterior noise. lol

[flpickupman]

In the back of my 1-1/2 ton Dodge.

Seriously though, since there's no 'spot' to place the 3rd bubba, I just kept him out of the plane. I didn't see the point in having him rattle around in what looks like the rear cargo compartment.

One other thing; anybody else remember the the bomb sight window that was supposed to be in the torpedo bay? I seem to recall that one of the prototypes had this included.

[Sabrefan]

Well my doctor said I am suffering from AWD, or Avenger Withdrawal Disease. I have all the symptoms:

1. Going to Walmart everyday
2. Going into a rage when reading of all ofther forumn members who have the Avenger model.
3. Making sure you have enough shelf space for the Avenger over and over.
4. And the worst symptom: Go back to symptom # 1

[KAGNEW]

WOW!
that sounds bad. i wonder if its catching?