Huge Surprise in the Hanger

Awesome! Can’t wait to hear the story behind this.
 
Someone bent the wings on that plane. Let me help you get rid of it.
 
I had no idea the TBM was there in the hanger, until we got back.
Not that I'm complaining.
I sure do love old iron.
 
c'mon, Shep, tell the truth...…...you sat on that jetski and made motorcycle noises, dincha?
 
So let me understand this correctly... you found a way to convert a C152 into a TBM Avenger... correct?

No wonder why the prices on 152s' is so high....
 
It was used for crop dusting. That must have been a blast to fly low.

Weirdly enough, it looks like the registration for that plane is expired. Did it just fly in, or was it towed from another hanger?
 
Dude..is that an actual machine gun stick out the rear canopy :)
 
Apparently the plane has been there awhile. It's out of annual, so I don't think they flew it in recently.
There is one machine gun in the rear turret. The second gun is not installed.
 
My father was the Maintenance Officer for the Rocky Mountain Wing of the CAF for many years and they have a TBM. He probably spent at least 800 hrs a year or more on that airplane from totally re-wiring it to all new hydraulics, etc. all under the watchful eye of an A&P/AI. I was able to crawl all over it every time we visited Grand Junction, and it is indeed a huge airplane. My Dad and step mom would regularly fly in the TBM to various air shows. I bet he had close to 500 hrs in it. Shortly before he died, he scheduled us for a ride in it. Unfortunately, the two pilots in the Wing who were qualified to fly the TBM had conflicts develop and we weren’t able to make the flight. It is a hell of a handful of plane I am told, and it just amazes me young “kids” like former President Bush could fly that beast on and off carriers, day and night, with really minimal training and instruments. Incredible!
 
If I took the wings off the Cub, I think the entire plane would fit in that bomb bay.
 
Jumpmaster said:
I am told, and it just amazes me young “kids” like former President Bush could fly that beast on and off carriers, day and night, with really minimal training and instruments. Incredible!
Click to expand...

Your post is just what I was thinking while viewing the photos. Kids with less than 400 hours flew the TBM from carriers in the Pacific fleet. They were also aircraft commanders, responsible for the other two crew members and fighting the aircraft as a team.

That was a pretty tall order for teenage and early twenties ensigns and JG Lieutenants.

George H. W. Bush spoke many times over the years of the sorrow he carried because of the loss of his crew when his TBM was shot down.
 
Don’t thy have just a single 50 in the bubble, ir was it a twin setup?
 
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