TBF-1 BuNo 05954 at NAS Glenview circa '79

[Chris Brame]

Here's my version of an Avenger walk-around... actually the first of many warbirds to be recovered from Lake Michigan; on this one they learned what not to do! I shot these on the ramp at NAS Glenview shortly after the plane was recovered. Supposedly it's being restored for the Indiana Museum of Military History; does anyone have a progress report? The camera was an old Argus C-3 - so unloved that when our house was robbed, the burglars didn't steal it - they used it to break open my brother's piggy bank. Maybe that's why it wouldn't focus very well

















Enjoy! - Chris

Last edited by Chris Brame on Sun Jul 02, 2017 8:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[TimAPNY]

Was it dumped over the side of the ship?

It looks like the bar to keep the wings stable is still attached, is that what that is? I have no idea the proper name of it either.

[Chris Brame]

I don't know if the circumstances of its ending up in the lake were ever reported; I do remember that the engine fell off during recovery, and that the plane was upside down when they found it, which explains the missing canopy. Also note the six-spoked piece where the turret should be... is it the mount for the turret, or was it a brace to fill in where the turret should be (if some of the early TBF trainers had the turret deleted)?

[AirJimL2]

I think that is the plane Harland Avezzie is restoring.

Jim

[bdk]

It looks like the bar to keep the wings stable is still attached, is that what that is?

TBF/TBM used a cable between the wing tip and the horizontal stabilizer tip to secure the wing. The bent bar in the tail is the hoist point (Mustang and T-6 have a similar hole on the aft fuselage).

You can see the cable on the far left of this photo (at the left edge of the image- there is a small open door on the wingtip where the cable is located):



You can see the hole on the bottom of the left insignia bar on the aft right side fuselage of this TBM:



BTW, here's another Lak Michigan bird:

http://www.serve.com/rcsc/Park.htm

[tom d. friedman]

take a look at the original 1979 wreck recovery pics...... what is missing from the avenger???? the answer??? zebra mussels!!!!! this 79 recovery was before their infestation of all the great lakes. by 1989 they became a major ecological issue. they hitched a ride in european freighter ballast tanks, & when these freighters hit the st lawrence river & it's locks they blew the lovely ocean water out thus releasing the pesky little s.o.b.s., now they coat everything on the bottom of all the great lakes. we've covered this before in a few different threads, but i thought it was worth mentioning in the days b.z.m. (before zebra mussels) i'm in the marine recreational biz, & i know about these crusty crustaceans 1st hand!!

[mrhenniger]

take a look at the original 1979 wreck recovery pics...... what is missing from the avenger???? the answer??? zebra mussels!!!!! this 79 recovery was before their infestation of all the great lakes. by 1989 they became a major ecological issue. they hitched a ride in european freighter ballast tanks, & when these freighters hit the st lawrence river & it's locks they blew the lovely ocean water out thus releasing the pesky little s.o.b.s., now they coat everything on the bottom of all the great lakes. we've covered this before in a few different threads, but i thought it was worth mentioning in the days b.z.m. (before zebra mussels) i'm in the marine recreational biz, & i know about these crusty crustaceans 1st hand!!

Yeah those zebra mussels really are annoying. They have made their way from the great lakes up into the smaller lakes of Ontario via the Rideau system. I nicked my foot on one jumping into a lake last summer. They are sharp little buggers.

Mike

[lone avenger]

I've been searching for pics of TBF survivors and had heard about the Lake ones so thanks for sharing the pics.
I have some pics of me actually ground running a TBF taken in 1980. I kid you not. Go here:
http://community.webshots.com/user/Barrysphotos

[Warbird Kid]

How is this project coming along? Anyone have any shots of her today?

[UC61K]

I grew up near Glenview NAS and remember seeing and inspecting the plane back in 79/80 while I was a Marine Recruit waiting to ship off the San Diego. Our Recruiter would have us out on base on weekends "getting accustom to Marine Life" I had pictures of the TBM, but lost them over the years of numerous station transfers.. It's great news that the plane is slowly being restored. Best of Luck and happy flying!

Jim Chybicki
Midwest Aeronautique LLC
UC-61K 43-14964 / HB-690

[SaxMan]

The Avenger in bdk's pics is the MAAM one. "White 4" was the one restored by Jack Kosko and his crew.

[Chris Brame]

I grew up near Glenview NAS and remember seeing and inspecting the plane back in 79/80 while I was a Marine Recruit waiting to ship off the San Diego.

Cool! Did you get onto the base before that and see or photograph the wrecked C-118 that was dumped at the end of the taxiway? (And are you a Glenbrook South alum, by any chance?)

[Jerry O'Neill]

Here's a shot I took from 2003! Mind you, I had lunch with Harland two weeks ago and it looks exactly the same!!! he's been busy restoring turrets for paying customers. he's even working on some ball turret support frames for the coming HBO mini series.