CAF Rocky Mountain Wing

CAF Rocky Mountain Wing See www.rmwcaf.org for our WWII warbird rides online Tour Schedule for a location near you. Otherwis You can also fly in these aircraft as a paying pasenger.

We operate one of the few remaining flyable TBM Avengers as part of the CAF's fleet of "flying museum" aircraft. We also fly a Piper J-3 Cub, also known in the military as a "Grasshopper". The Wing grew in membership with this addition of another flying aircraft. This type aircraft had the military designation of L-4 in the Army Air Corps and NE-1 in the Navy. The TBM Avenger and J-3 Cub are avail

able for air shows and fly-overs at local civic events. Member meetings are held the last Saturday of each month

It's going to be a busy Saturday with Cub Rides here in Grand Junction and TBM rides in Denver! Keep up with all our ev...
09/03/2026

It's going to be a busy Saturday with Cub Rides here in Grand Junction and TBM rides in Denver! Keep up with all our events at https://rmwcaf.org/events/

📸 GJT Jet Photos

One year to the day before the Japanese would surrender in Tokyo Bay, a 20-year-old U.S. Navy pilot barely survived his ...
09/02/2026

One year to the day before the Japanese would surrender in Tokyo Bay, a 20-year-old U.S. Navy pilot barely survived his 50th combat mission... then eventually went on to become President of the United States.

On September 2, 1944, Lt. (j.g.) George H. W. Bush flew a TBM-1C Avenger as part of Torpedo Squadron 51 (VT-51) from USS San Jacinto (CVL-30) during a strike against a Japanese radio installation on Chichi Jima in the Bonin Islands. His aircraft carried a three-man crew: Bush as pilot, Lt. (j.g.) William G. White as turret gunner, and Radioman Second Class John L. Delaney.

Bush's Avenger was hit by heavy antiaircraft fire while approaching the target, but despite the smoke and flames, he continued his attack and released his bombs on the radio installation. He managed to get the crippled aircraft back over the water before ordering his crew to bail out. Two parachutes were observed. Bush's opened, while the second, believed to have been Delaney's, failed to deploy properly. Neither Delaney nor White survived.

Bush landed in the sea and spent about four hours in a life raft before being rescued by the submarine USS Finback (SS-230). For pressing the attack despite the severe damage to his aircraft, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

On 31 August 1944, Grumman XTBF-3 Avenger BuNo 24341 was photographed during testing with a large external drop tank. At...
08/31/2026

On 31 August 1944, Grumman XTBF-3 Avenger BuNo 24341 was photographed during testing with a large external drop tank. At first glance, it looks like just another Avenger. The "X" in its designation, however, tells us that this particular aircraft was helping develop what would become the most numerous version of the Avenger ever built.

By 1943, the Navy had a problem with the Avenger. It was an extraordinarily useful airplane, but it was getting heavier. The original TBF-1 used the 1,700-horsepower Wright R-2600-8, and the later TBF/TBM-1C added equipment and armament without adding horsepower. With a full combat load, particularly when operating from a carrier deck, more power would be very welcome.

Grumman and the Navy therefore began experimenting with more powerful versions of Wright's R-2600 Twin Cyclone.

One test aircraft, the XTBF-2, was fitted with the 1,900-horsepower XR-2600-10. That engine incorporated a two-stage supercharger intended to improve performance at higher altitudes. It worked, but Avengers generally didn't fight at high altitude, so the added complexity and weight offered little advantage.

The XTBF-3 used Wright's R-2600-20, also rated at about 1,900 horsepower, but without the -10's elaborate high-altitude supercharging arrangement. It provided the additional power without saddling a low- and medium-altitude attack aircraft with equipment it rarely needed.

Installing the new engine wasn't simply a matter of bolting it onto the existing airplane. The -20 required changes to the engine installation and cooling system. The resulting production aircraft could be distinguished by its revised cowling, additional cooling flaps, and altered air intakes. The developing -3 configuration also incorporated provisions that made the Avenger increasingly versatile as a strike aircraft, including underwing attachments for rockets and external fuel.

The tests were successful, but there would be an interesting twist in the designation.

By this point, Grumman was concentrating its production capacity on the F6F Hellcat, while General Motors' Eastern Aircraft Division had taken over Avenger production. So although Grumman's experimental aircraft were designated XTBF-3, there would be no large production run of TBF-3s from Grumman.

Instead, the improved airplane entered mass production at Eastern as the TBM-3.

And mass production is an understatement. More than 4,000 basic TBM-3s were built, followed by hundreds of improved TBM-3Es and numerous specialized versions for radar, reconnaissance, searchlight, and other missions. The -3 became the definitive late-war Avenger and served in the final campaigns against Japan.

08/29/2026

One week from today, folks in Denver can join us at the Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum Exploration of Flight at Centennial Airport for a ride in the Grumman TBM Avenger! Live a part of WWII history with a flight: https://rmwcaf.org/warbird-rides/

🎥 GJT Jet Photos

08/28/2026

Kick off your Labor Day weekend here in Grand Junction with an unforgettable ride in our Cub on September 5. Grab your seat at https://rmwcaf.org/warbird-rides/

🎥 GJT Jet Photos

Before an Avenger crew learned to attack an enemy ship, its members first had to learn how to escape their own airplane....
08/26/2026

Before an Avenger crew learned to attack an enemy ship, its members first had to learn how to escape their own airplane.

In August 1944, students at Naval Air Station Fort Lauderdale practiced escaping from the partially submerged fuselage of a Grumman TBF Avenger. The Navy had removed the engine, outer wings, and tail surfaces, then attached the remaining structure to a crane so instructors could lower it into the water for repeated drills.

Escaping an Avenger presented particular challenges. Its three crewmen occupied separate positions. The pilot sat alone in the cockpit, the turret gunner occupied the powered dorsal turret, and the radioman-bombardier worked inside the lower rear fuselage. The pilot could not move through the aircraft to reach the other two men. After a ditching, each crewman had to release his equipment, locate his own exit, and escape before the aircraft filled with water or sank.

Here's an interesting "what if" that we tried.On 22 August 1940, the Avenger's predecessor, the TBD-1 Devastator (in thi...
08/25/2026

Here's an interesting "what if" that we tried.

On 22 August 1940, the Avenger's predecessor, the TBD-1 Devastator (in this case, one from Torpedo Squadron 3), was photographed with McClelland Barclay's experimental camouflage design number 7 at Naval Air Station, North Island, in San Diego. Our research turned up no color photos of the dazzling pattern camo, but secondary sources commonly state that Barclay recommended four non-specular colors: Gray, silver gray, blue, and green.

Using that information, we asked Google Gemini to imagine the photo in color. Then, using that, we had it imagine what the pattern would have looked like on the Avenger if it had been adopted. What do you think?

The USS Enterprise (CV-6) established her reputation for toughness early in the war. On 24 August 1942, she absorbed thr...
08/24/2026

The USS Enterprise (CV-6) established her reputation for toughness early in the war. On 24 August 1942, she absorbed three direct hits by Japanese bombs. Yet, she was fighting again just eight weeks later.

The photograph captures the third Japanese bomb striking Enterprise during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. Later reconstructions of Japanese records attribute the bomb to Petty Officer Kazumi Horie, flying an Aichi D3A1 “Val” dive bomber. It exploded on contact near the after starboard corner of the carrier’s No. 2 elevator. The bomb detonated incompletely, blasting a hole approximately ten feet across the flight deck and starting a small fire. Horie did not survive the attack.

That explosion was spectacular, but the two bombs that struck moments earlier caused far more destruction. The first pierced the No. 3 elevator and traveled 42 feet through the ship before exploding between the second and third decks. It tore holes through several decks and opened the hull near the waterline. The second bomb exploded beneath the flight deck in a 5-inch gun gallery, igniting about 40 rounds of ready-service propellant. The fire there was controlled in approximately 40 minutes, but additional material below continued to smolder and flare up for eight hours.

In only five minutes, USS Enterprise (CV-6) absorbed three direct bomb hits and four near misses. Two aircraft elevators were disabled, two 5-inch guns were put out of action, the flight deck was distorted, and approximately 245 tons of seawater entered the ship. Seventy-four men were killed and 95 wounded.

About an hour and a half after the attack, water and firefighting foam drained through a damaged ventilation trunk and disabled one of the steering motors. Exhausted sailors in the compartment were overcome by heat and smoke before they could shift to the backup motor. A rescue party entered the space and restored steering after 38 minutes.

Despite appearances, USS Enterprise (CV-6) was not on the verge of sinking. Flooding produced a list of only about three degrees, the increase in her average draft was negligible, and her crew contained the flooding with pumps, counterflooding, shoring, and a temporary wooden cofferdam. She remained under power and began landing aircraft again within an hour.

USS Enterprise (CV-6) withdrew the following day and reached Pearl Harbor on September 10. Repairs were completed by October 7, along with the installation of additional 20 mm and 40 mm antiaircraft guns and new radar. She returned to sea on October 16 and rejoined the fleet on October 24, only two months after the attack. Two days later, she was back in battle at Santa Cruz.

Knowing that the U.S. Navy adopted overall Glossy Sea Blue late in World War II, many people are surprised to see how lo...
08/22/2026

Knowing that the U.S. Navy adopted overall Glossy Sea Blue late in World War II, many people are surprised to see how long the earlier three-color camouflage remained in service. This photograph puts the transition into perspective.

These TBM Avengers belonged to Torpedo Squadron 88 aboard USS Yorktown (CV-10). The Navy photographed them over the Pacific on 22 August 1945, one week after Japan announced its surrender. The “RR” tail marking identifies Carrier Air Group 88.

Several of the Avengers still wear the older combination of Non-Specular Sea Blue, Intermediate Blue, and Insignia White. At least one aircraft wears the newer overall Glossy Sea Blue finish.

The Navy had ordered fighter aircraft into overall Glossy Sea Blue in March 1944. On 7 October, it extended the standard to other carrier-based combat aircraft, including torpedo and dive bombers. The one-color finish simplified production and maintenance, while its smoother surface offered a modest aerodynamic benefit.

The directive did not mean that squadrons immediately repainted every aircraft already in service. Existing Avengers continued flying in their three-color camouflage while newer aircraft arrived from the factory in Glossy Sea Blue. Fighters such as the F6F Hellcat and F4U Corsair displayed the new finish earlier partly because they had received the order months before the Navy extended it to torpedo and dive bombers.

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Grand Junction, CO
81506

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