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To: Flick Lives

What a great design with a gunner pod in the rear. Genius!


24 posted on 12/04/2018 5:29:30 PM PST by dennisw
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To: dennisw

What a great design with a gunner pod in the rear. Genius!

Always liked aircraft with a big greenhouse canopy.


29 posted on 12/04/2018 5:33:59 PM PST by Flick Lives
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To: dennisw

Radio, comms in the center.


37 posted on 12/04/2018 5:45:02 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: dennisw

“What a great design with a gunner pod in the rear. Genius!”

Saburo Sakai nearly got killed by that rear turret near Guadalcanal. He eased up behind some Grummans he though were Wildcats and was not familiar with the new TBM.
That rear turret nailed him before he saw it, he got a .30 caliber bullet to the head, lost an eye, windscreen shattered.
By incredible skill he made an epic 500+ mile flight back to Rabaul and lived to fly again.

Very interesting plane that TBM. We all think of it as a lumbering torpedo plane.The 1944 movie “Wing and a prayer” has some good flying shots of it maneuvering, diving, etc. In that film it was very interesting to see how fast and graceful it could be compared to the common way we see it.


66 posted on 12/04/2018 7:42:42 PM PST by DesertRhino (Dog is man's best friend, and moslems hate dogs. Add that up. ....)
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To: dennisw
What a great design with a gunner pod in the rear.

Yes, it was a great design; very appropriate to its time.

91 posted on 12/05/2018 11:14:21 AM PST by NorthMountain (... the right of the peopIe to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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