The "Republic Thundervenger" ...

[Mark Allen M]

... or is it the "Grutiss Hellvenger" .... (some nice choice titles by others)

Possibly the one and only TBF that was tested with an R-2800 engine in place of the normal R-2600.

[sandiego89]

Cool, I didn't know one had flown with that. I built a "what if" Night Avenger on a modeling site I belong to with the big engine and prop. Was a rush job as part of a one week group build, but I think she looks good with the 4 bladed prop.

[marine air]

That's a cool idea. It certainly would have simplified the logistics chain of the Navy if the Helldiver and Avenger had also had the same powerplant as the Hellcat, Tigercat, and Corsair.

[L-188]

that is very cool. I wonder why no one ever thought of that. talk about a stable gun platform.

[Malo83]

Super Turkey

[Rick65]

Like lots of other improvements to late war allied ariplanes that were not implimented this one probably didn't proceed because they preferred lots of R-2600 engined Avengers rather than a lesser number of R-2800 engined ones. Don't disrupt the production line.

[Invader26]

Indeed. What would a Merlin powered P-38 been like? The Allison B-17??

[Zac Yates]

The Allison B-17??

You mean like the Lockheed Vega XB-38?