Restored TBM Lost

[MIflyer]

A Chicago pilot and his passenger survived bailing out of their TBM Avenger on May 7 over northeastern Arizona. Ron Carlson and Kenny Franzese hit the silk near Fort Apache in Navajo County after an apparent engine failure in the freshly restored warbird. The two were ferrying the big single-engine torpedo bomber from Phoenix to Chicago when things went wrong. "I was on the instruments and a big bang in front, and everything just started shaking," Carlson told NBC's Chicago affiliate. Carlson told AVweb in a podcast interview here was no place for a forced landing on the rugged terrain below and smoke was filling the cockpit and he was also afraid he wouldn't be able to see if he tried for a landing. He told Franzese to abandon the aircraft.

Franzese went first and clung briefly to the wing before letting go. Carlson followed and both were pretty banged up but mobile when they landed. Carlson had a broken rib and sprained ankle and Franzese needed surgery to fix a major facial injury. They spent a night separated before they found each other on a gravel road the next morning. Franzese followed a gravel road and found help, returning in a pickup truck with two forestry workers. "An hour later I was taking a rest and boom, a pickup truck comes by with Kenny in it," Carlson said. "So I know at that point, the adrenaline just went out and the next thing I knew I had a cold Gatorade in my hands--so that was the best thing." The wreckage of the aircraft has not yet been found.

Carlson bought the aircraft in flying condition in Australia in 2017 and it underwent restoration in Stockton, California. He was flying it home from restoration when the mishap occurred. The Avenger was built for the U.S. Navy but spent most of its life in Canada, first in the Royal Canadian Navy and then as a waterbomber in British Columbia before going through various owners in the U.S. and finally being exported to Australia in 2006. The plane was re-registered in the U.S. in 2017 and underwent a thorough restoration, including making the wing-mounted machine guns functional.

 

[at6]

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At least the pilot and passenger were saved.

 

[fubar57]

Sad but happy both are okay

 

[Crimea_River]

With Geo.

 

[MIflyer]

A friend of mine used to fly 1920's biplanes, a 1939 Luscombe 8A, and had time in various other antique aircraft like a PT-19 (abandoned in a field in LA after the engine caught fire) and an Aeronca C-3 (deadsticked into an automobile auction parking lot after an aileron cable came loose and the engine quit). He had learned to fly routes based on one emergency landing spot to another one. When I took him to Lakeland in my Ercoupe he later admitted that flying direct was a new experience for a trip he had probably flown 50 times by his own approach.

I think in a newly restored TBM or any other WWII airplane I'd fly it that way. It is said that the most dangerous airplane is one that just came out of the shop; this is another data point.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Dang, that just stinks!

 

[Capt. Vick]

Yup

 

[T Bolt]

Too bad, but at least they survived.

 

[Gnomey]

Sad to hear. Glad both are ok!

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Damn, but happy they made it out alive.

 

[Airframes]

Darned shame about the loss of the aircraft, but the important parts were saved - the crew.

 

[Barrett]

There's much speculation here in Arizona Territory as to where the "TBN" (as per many internet reports) fetched up. Somebody will find it, of course, but it's bound to take awhile. I grew up in the Great NW, where at least a coupla hundred airplanes disappeared. Hikers, campers, loggers, stumble across them from time to time.

 

[MIflyer]

Many years ago, in the early 70's I guess, a friend of mine in NJ was at home sick with the flu one night. He thought he heard an airplane come over and then the engine start cutting out in a manner that sounded as though it was hitting trees. He told his parents, who replied that he was sick and imagining it. He prevailed on them to call local airports and inquire if any airplanes were missing; none were reported. And that settled it - until they found a crashed airplane in the woods some time later.

Now, NJ is the most heavily populated state in the nation. And they could still lose an airplane for months.

 

[MiTasol]

It is said that the most dangerous airplane is one that just came out of the shop; this is another data point.

I do not know if it applies in this case but that is certainly true if the engine was last overhauled in WW2.

 

[MIflyer]

One day when I was a student pilot they rolled the Cessna 150 out of the hangar after doing some work on it and we took off. Just after we turned downwind they called on the radio and said, "Could you come back right away?" My instructor told me he had the airplane and we landed. Turned out they had aired up the tires without putting in the valve cores. They put in the valve cores and we took off. On the next landing the flaps refused to come back up. We called it a day and my instructor said, "They say the most dangerous airplane is the one that just came out of the shop."

It seems we were serving as test pilots.

 

[MIflyer]

I just got a note on the TBM crash. A gentleman involved in aircraft restoration says he lent a restored WWII radio transmitter to the owner of the TBM and it was on board when the airplane went down. He needs one of those transmitters for another restoration and hopes that the transmitter survived the crash. But as of a couple of days ago the crash site had not been found. They have the public out of that area due to the threat of fires.

 

[mike cunningham]

how many avengers are still flying and is one located anywhere near midland texas?

 

[MIflyer]

I just looked up the FAA records and they say that there are 10 Grumman TBM aircraft flying, including one at the AMERICAN AIRPOWER HERITAGE FLYING MUSEUM in Dallas, TX. There are 28 TBM-3E flying, including two at the AMERICAN AIRPOWER HERITAGE FLYING MUSEUM in Dallas, one at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston, and one at CAVANAUGH AIR LLC in Addison. There is one TBM-3U flying, in CT. .

There are also three F3F-2 flying, including one in Texas

There is only one F4F-3 registered and it is in Texas, and four F6F-3, including one in Texas. There are three F6F-5 flying, none in Texas.

Amazingly there are six F7F-3 registered , two of them in Texas, and one F7F-3N registered, in Washington..

There are one F8F-1 and six F8F-2 flying in Texas, A total of 14 Bearcats are registered in the entire country.

Note that aircraft in museums may not be registered and not all of the registered aircraft may be in actual current flying condition.

This info is available from the FAA registration database.

 

[GrauGeist]

A note about the TBM - that's a TBF that was manufactured by General Motors.

There are only 6 Grumman built TBFs left in the world and I believe that none of those 6 are airworthy.

 

[MIflyer]

Yes, I am aware that the TBM was built by Eastern Aircraft rather than Grumman. But the FAA has them listed as Grumman aircraft.

I wonder how the FAA lists the FM-1 and FM-2? I doubt there are any FM-1's in flying condition - I only know of 1 in a museum - but I know there are some FM-2's flying..