Charlie Cartledge's TBM Avenger

[mustangdriver]

Mt friend Clair and I were visiting MAPS Air Museum in Akron, OH and had the time to drive down to Wadsworth, OH to visit Charlie. I called him, and he said he was not busy and could meet us at the hangar. We had no idea what we were in store for. We found the hangar, and I poked my head in the people door to make sure Ihad the right one. Charlie greated with a very warm, "Come on in". As I walked in, the first thing that I saw was a beautiful T-6. It's shiny yellow paint drew my attention for a brief moment, until I saw the huge TBM in the back of the hangar. The first thing that I noticed about it was how complete it is. The second, was the quality of work going into the restoration. The beautiful three tone paint scheme with national insignias is really a work of art. Charlie was great, and showed us around. The next thing I know, I am standing up on the wing, and poking into the cockpit. I got to tell you as a guy not huge on heights (insert joke about a pilot afraid of heights here), this thing is huge. You feel like you are on a roof of a house on the thing. The craftsmanship in the cockpit is just as impressive as the outside. After going all through the TBM, Charlie took us to his friend's hangar next door. There we met another great guy and true aviator. He was working on his Sopwith triplane. It is a replica madefrom the original drawings. It is amazing to see how far the technology was from the Sopwith to the TBM. The four of us had met for the first time that day, yet there we sat in the hangar talking for hours like we were old drinking buddies. It was all too soon that Clair and I had to head back to Pittsburgh, as we were stating to loose daylight, and to think we got there at 1:00 or so! We had a blast and hated to leave. Clair and I have vowed to come back, and help with what we can. Being in that hangar with those two great guys for just a few minutes let alone a few hours was enough for me to decide that I wanted to help.
Charlie, thank you again for such a great day, and your hospitality. I can not wait to get dirty from the TBM. Please also thank your friend who was kind enough to share his hangar with us as well.
Chris