Warbird Information Exchange

BACK IN THE GOLDEN AGE OF WARBIRDS (50s & 60s) HOLLY FLETCHER, A WWII BOEING B-17 8TH AF TECH REP., OPERATED AERO FLIGHT INC. OUT OF TROUTDALE AIRPORT, OR. HE DID FIREBOMBING WITH A-26s AND SPRAYING WITH TBMs. HE ALSO OPERATED THE CITY OF PORTLAND'S 2 A-24 DAUNTLESS'S (OK-BANSHEE'S YOU PURISTS). ONE OF HIS SPRAYER TBMs CRASHED INTO A LAKE IN MONTANA IN THE EARLY 60s. I'VE TRIED TO RESEARCH THIS A/C BUT CAN FIND NO RECORD OF IT EVER BEING ON THE CIVIL REGISTER. THE 'N' NUMBER WAS 9594C BUT I DON'T NOW THE BU.NO. I'VE GOT A GOOD PHOTO BUT CAN'T POST IT SO I WILL EMAIL IT TO SCOTT AND MAYBE HE CAN PUT IT UP FOR ALL TO SEE. CAN ANYONE COME UP WITH INFO ON THIS TURKEY???

That is a tough one Jack!

In the early 70s I had compiled quite a thorough list of all of the civil TBMs and their Bureau numbers but it is buried in a box in storage somewhere today.

I pulled out my trusty copy of the July 1, 1964 U.S. Civil Aircraft Register but that one N# had no listing. For those interested here are the others in that series, however:

N9590C 53784 Boise, Idaho
N9591C 53829 Moscow, Idaho
N9592C 53256 Salt lake city, UT
N9593C 69472 Visalia, CA
N9595C 53479 Lancaster, CA
N9596C 69361 Anderson, CA
N9597C 85499 Missoula, MT
N9598C not listed
N9599C "6728" New Castle, WY

PICTURES DON'T LIE!!!
I SENT SCOTT A NICE JPEG SCAN OF IT SO HOPEFULLY HE'LL GET IT UP. IN THE MEANTIME, ANYONE WHO WANTS A COPY JUST EMAIL ME AND I'LL SEND IT.
Ordy1Jack@msn.com

Here you go Jack

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Scott Rose
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I've looked through every list that I have of TBMs and I can't find this N number either. An interesting mystery!

Dennis

WD4 does list it either.

Mike

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Mike R. Henniger
Aviation Enthusiast & Photographer
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Do you want to find locations of displayed, stored or active aircraft? Then start with the The Locator.
Do you want to find or contribute to the documented history of an aircraft? If so then start with the Airframes Database.

Could it be misnumbered? I know some aircraft wore the wrong number for awhile. Maybe this is a similar case since there are TBM in the n-number series?

_________________
Scott Rose
Editor-In-Chief/Webmaster
Warbirds Resource Group - Warbird Information Exchange - Warbird Registry

Be civil, be polite, be nice.... or be elsewhere.
-------------------------------------------------------
This site is brought to you with the support of members like you. If you find this site to be of value to you,
consider supporting this forum and the Warbirds Resource Group with a VOLUNTARY subscription
For as little as $2/month you can help ($2 x 12 = $24/year, less than most magazine subscriptions)
So If you like it here, and want to see it grow, consider helping out.



Thanks to everyone who has so generously supported the site. We really do appreciate it.

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Is this Turkey still a mystery?

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"I've already got four, and I've got thirty cornered" Lt Paul Pablo VF-14 USS Essex

Bu/No 53801 X-RCN XB448 (?)

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Don't touch my junk!!

It's not beyond the realm of possibility that this was a 'made up' or 'borrowed' N #. Back in the late 70's the COMET Mk 4 that now resides @ the MoF's restoration facility @ KPAE flew in just before AIRFAIR and was given a prime spot on the ramp in it's white, gold, and reddish coral paint scheme. After AIRFAIR the COMET sat for weeks, the airport called the FSDO to find the owners and ask '!!??!!'. The FAA said the N # on the COMET (which could never be registered in the U.S. due to design issues) belonged to a BEECH twin located in Florida. So back in the 50's you could probably get away with something like that ruse as I'm pretty sure no one carried around a fische reader and a box of films-especially if it was doing sprayer work from some old dirt strip a gazillion miles East of Flat Hat, MT.

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

Hollly Fletcher was a straight up guy. He never would do anything unless it was 100% above board.
His aircraft were impectible and both his A-26s still flyand his A-24s are at Tillamook and the AFM.
Plus of course the TBM at the bottom of the lake.

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Don't touch my junk!!

Not disputing that this TBM could be BuNo. 53801, but BuNo. 53801 never served with the RCN and XB448 was a Royal Navy serial for BuNo. 86154.

Jim

If the airplane had a registration then it had to have an airworthiness certificate. I wonder if the paperwork might have got mislaid at the FSDO or was it GADO in those days? I have come across aircraft modified properly with entries made referencing the modification form 337 and yet the FAA data for that particular plane did not have the copy that should have been sent to OKC. Some of the entries were made by guys known to be straight up type as well. I wonder if the FEDs have a "dead letter" office somewhere....?

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"I can't understand it, I cut it twice and it's still too short!" Robert F. Dupre' 1923-2010 Go With God.

What I have.........
That's a fascinating TBM, About all I can give you is the BuNo
(53801). This is confirmed by the FAA card file that has no other
information. It is not in the 1963 Register.
So it must have been sold surplus out of Canada. A lot of RCN TBMs were surplused in the 1959-60 time frame.

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Don't touch my junk!!