TBF/TBM Avenger

S~ MCVG-2!!

I'm here to drop some tips on flying the TBM off the deck of jeep carriers. Today I participated in a training exercise with Bostimax and Rhino (along with VBF-12 Gosling and VBF-12 Daduck). Combat sorties, landing on airfields, landing on Essex carriers, and landing on jeep carriers. First pic I have is the deck arrangement (8 Corsairs up front, 3 Avengers behind)..



CVE 67, USS Solomons

When taking off

70% throttle, 85% prop pitch, landing flaps [carrier deck]

50% throttle, 85% prop pitch, take off flaps [airfield]

Formation

60% throttle, 85% prop pitch

Here's a photo of 3 plane vic



Landing

40% throttle, 85% prop pitch, landing flaps [in pattern]

25% throttle, 85% prop pitch, landing flaps [on finals]

That will get you down on a deck of an Escort Carrier, when you hit the deck, your airspeed should be 70 kts, approach is usually 80-90 kts. The last link I'm posting a landing video I made some time ago. The values are off (a little faster), but it was made for a full size carrier. If you follow the values above, you'll be set. Best thing for the pilots in VMTB is practice flying the bird with the [on finals] settings. I'm sure you're CO's will come up with a full operating procedure for you guys. Myself, Rino, Bosti, and Daduck were all able to get her down on a CVE tonight

http://www.vbf-12.com/Avenger.wmv

~S~

Thanks Whitey !!......those training sorties and tips for the TBM are fantastic and really helped to understand and deal with the TBM's massive torque for both taking off from a carrier as well as from an airfield. Even landing was pretty smooth too considering you want a shallow final approach to the back of the carrier deck.

I'm sure our Bomber pilots will appreciate this information. All these specs should go onto 3 X 5 cards in front of your monitor so you can review them when needed.

Gentlemen

During this training session a number of things were found out. The next few posts will cover this information. The First will be:

TBM Avenger - Trim Settings

The trim wheels on the Avenger need alot of cranking to get the aircraft to fly straight. This is particularly the case at launch. The following settings should be set before launch.

Rudder - 30 Right keyboard taps

Elevator - 20 Down keyboard taps

Aileron- 20 Right keyboard taps

This will still leve a residual left drift which can be counteracted by:

On launch set 1/2 Right Rudder deflection before clearing chocks

Also, the left wing will tend to drop on lift off. Be prepared to counter with more right rudder and minimal right roll.

Gos

Gentlemen

TBM Avenger - Gunners

The other crew members need a little encouragement to have a pop at the incoming Japs.

To activate to Gunners each position needs to be set to auto. To do this set keys for:

Control .............................. Suggested Key - Meaning

Switch Cockpit Positions ..... P - Pilot positions

Auto Toggle ........................ Shift P - Auto On/Off

Move to each gunner position and set him to auto.

Having cycled to each position return to the cockpit and leave them to it. They should track and fire at any incoming enemy aircraft without further orders.

Gos

Thanks Gos !

Gentlemen

TBM Avenger - Power Settings

This post is to summarise Whitey's original post in a format for printing and to have the information in one small area and in the same format as the F4U Corsair Thread. I have looked at the Engine Operating Chart for the aircraft and tried to correlate Whitey's figures with that chart. Key is Takeoff where we do not use the full power of the aircraft due to the need to keep the Torque under control

Phase ......... | Blower Stage | MAP % | RPM % | Mix % | Notes

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Taking off .... | Low ...... 1 | ??" 70 | 2400 85 | AR 120 | Landing Flap for Carrier, Take off Flap for Airfield, To minimise Torque

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Mil Climb ...... | Low ...... 1 | 43.0" 99 | 2600 100 | AL 100 |

.................... | High ..... 2 | 45.5" 99 | 2600 100 | AL 100 |

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Rated Climb . | Low ...... 1 | 38.5" 95 | 2400 85 | AL 100 |

.................... | High ..... 2 | 41.0" 95 | 2400 85 | AL 100 |

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Max Cruise .. | Low ...... 1 | 29.5" 60 | 2080 85 | AL 100 |

.................... | High ..... 2 | 27.5" 60 | 2080 85 | AL 100 |

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Descent ........ | Low ...... 1 | Idle 11 | <2400 <85 | AL 100 |

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Circuit ............ | Low ...... 1 | ??" 40 | 2400 <85 | AR 120 | 30% Base, 25% Finals

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Notes:

1. The Amber percentages are the IL2 Settings to achieve the guage readings

2. There are a few settings that we have not quite worked out yet.

3. MAP = Manifold Air Pressure (?? Guage)

4. Best Climb = ???Kts

Gos

PS - Anyone know how to do tables in this Forum please?

Man this is gonna be an Adventure in airmanship to say the least LOL... Much thanx to GOS, RINO, BOSTI and WHITEY for risking theyre lives evaluating this Wobblin gobblin... Im going to start practicing,,, We should come up with some sort of manual concerning this beast for My bomber boys and My own personal edicifaction.

Gos and I are running some preliminary Flight Trials with the TBM using some historical docs and spec sheets and comparing those to what we have in game. To our unfortunate surprise, the Instrument panel in both the TBM / TBF is from a Russian bird, most likely from the Yak-52. When we were trying to read our Manifold Pressure at idle settings, the reading wasn't consistant with inches of mercury. Instead, the reading is in Centimeters.

We will continue to test this bird with what we know and publish a "spec sheet" that should help anyone who attempts to master this beast.

I wonder if AAA would switch out the SBD cockpit