TBM Avenger - introduction

This series of articles on the TBM Avenger is perhaps long over due. Pretty early on in my writing about aerial wildland firefighting, I learned that TBM Avenger's (most were TBM 3's) were widely used in aerial firefighting beginning in the mid to  late 1950s and into the 1960s by the California Department of Forestry (CDF) and the US Forest Service. According to my aviation historian friend:

"CDF used the TBM until the early 1970s. In other parts of the country, the flew into the late 1970's.  California was the first state to quit using them (citing safety concerns of single engine aircraft). When the S2 came online in 1974-75, the TBM's were grounded in California."

Hearing good reports from the U.S. about their use of TBM Avenger's for firefighting, Canadian aerial operators began to use TBM's in 1957 for aerial spray operations targeting pests, notably  spruce budworms. I'm not quite sure when Canadian aerial operators began to use TBM's for firefighting, but Forest Products Limited (FPL), the last operator of firefighting TBM's in Canada, started to use TBMs for firefighting in the late 1970s. For more information on the history of TBM Avenger's use and acquisition in Canada go here. FPL's company webpage may be found here.

In late 1999, Forest Product Limited began to sell off their remaining TBM fleet as they began to purchase AT-802s and 802F's for use in firefighting. For a list of FPL's purchases, losses, and sales  (loss and sales data through 2004) see this web page.

By early 2010, one of the remaining unsold FPL TBM's had crashed, two are listed in their aircraft chart (accessed on July 16, 2010), and one may be sold but still on the FPL site (see "A few facts" near the top of the FPL purchase, loss, and sale page. The two TBMs that I saw listed on the FPL aircraft chart (cited above) are C-FIMR (#23) and C-GLEL (#13)).

But the story of the Avenger began long before the plane was converted to fly as an air tanker or for pest control. Her history goes back to the early days of WW II. So, I begin this series of articles on the TBM Avenger by looking at military uses of this noble aircraft.

The series:

• Wed. July 28: Part 1 history and specs
• Fri. July 30: Part 2 more on history
• Mon. Aug 2: Part 3 Firefighting 1
• Wed. Aug 4: Part 4 Firefighting 2 Hemet-Ryan 1964 to 1971
• Fri Aug 6: Part 5 Firefighting Avengers up close and personal
• Mon. Aug 9: Part 6 Former firefighting TBM 3E at Naval Air Station Museum in Wildwood NJ