TBM Avenger Tanker 13 (Bu# 53200, N9101C, CGLEL)

Last Friday, I wrote that TBM Avenger Tanker #13 arrived in the Museum of Mountain Flying in Missoula, MT. I continue with a brief history of TBM Avenger #13.

1945: Construction number # 3262
1945-52: US Navy Bureau # 53200
1952-58: Royal Canadian Navy #377
1958-69: Hillcrest Aviation, Lewiston, ID. N9101C. Flew as airtanker, #D6
1969-72: Johnson Flying Service, Missoula, MT. Flew as airtanker #A13
Late 1974: sold to Forest Protection Limited, New Brunswick, CA.
1975-2010: Forest Protection Limited (FPL), A13, 13
1975-93: aerial spray (Budworm, etc)
1993-4, 1996: fire suppression (spare)
1995, 1997-2010: Fire suppression

References for history of TBM Avenger #13
The Warbird Registry's page on TBM Avenger Bureau # 52300 may be found here.

There is a nice website with information archives for TBM Avengers and Forest Protection Limited that may be found here. There is a lot of history here relating to FPL's Avengers as well as TBM's from the U.S. and other Canadian operators used for budworm spraying operations in New Brunswick. You could spend hours on this site. These TBM Avenger/FPL information archives has a nice page devoted to C-GLEL, #13 with her history, names of pilots who flew her, and pictures. Please spend some time on this page to get to know #13.

The video embedded below shows FPL TBM Avenger #24, a sister tanker to #13. Here is a picture of FPL's fleet of air tankers in 2001 , including #13 and #24.:



I have grown to love #13 through spending a couple of hours on the TBM Avenger/FPL information archives. I expect that the folk at FPL and in Fredericton New Brunswick are very sad to her go. I hope that they can take some consolation that many in Missoula, MT are overjoyed to have her at the Museum of Mountain Flying. She is loved by many in Missoula and will be loved by many, many more.