lucky52 wrote:
I think it's pretty cool that they were using the TBF for the carrier onboard delivery aircraft until 1956.
Interesting that you bring that up. Today I was talking with our guy who did the work on the SH-3H Sea King and he mentioned he couldn't locate the Bureau # for the TBM. There were no plates on the plane where they should have been. He was talking with others in Admin trying to ascertain that info and learned that they had two different numbers so no one knew the history. None of them were around before 2005. I said I did as I saw the original paper work back in late 1999.
That TBM was built by Eastern Motors in January 1945. Arrived San Diego June 1945. Then arrived Guam July 1945 and placed into VC-97. Retired to Litchfield in 1946 for two years. Pulled out in 1948 and designated COD and operated as such until 1956. Last carrier the plane served on was the USS Coral Sea. Sold in 1960 to Sacramento Crop Dusters for $1. From there history is lost as to when the plane was turned into a fire bomber. Picks up in 1990 when purchased by Mike Bogue and flown into Oakland. Even now I can't find the number even though I knew it and wrote it down somewhere in 1999.