Air Power Series>1:72 die-cast display model>TBM>HA1203

General Background

The Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm used the Grumman Avenger AS Mk. 4 as a stopgap measure while another more modern aircraft was being developed for anti-submarine warfare. In 1953 o ne hundred Avenger were acquired from the US and converted to meet British specifications . It came equipped with an AN/APS-4 radar pod fitted to the underside of the starboard wing . Some were assigned to HMS Bulwark with Carrier Codes B or O applied in black or white on the fin until in 1955 “ Fairey Gannets ” replaced them. The last Avenger was retired from British service in 1962.

The Aircraft

During the Suez Crisis 1956-1957 the Avengers were used as submarine hunter-killers. They were equipped witha wide variety of weapons from rockets to torpedoes and bombs. Yellow and black stripes were applies on this aircraft as a means of recognition and this aircraft was named "Beryl the Peril". Beryl was a 1953 comic strip version of a female " Dennis the Menace".

Specifications :

Grumman Avenger AS Mk.IV / TBM-3S (post war designation)
Wingspan :	52 ft. 2 in.
Length :	40 ft.
Height :	16 ft. 5 in.
Empty Weight :	10,843 lbs
Maximum Weight :	18,250 lbs.
Power-plant :	one Wright R-2600-20 rated at 1,900 hp
Performance :	267 mph @ 16,000 ft.
Service Ceiling :	23,400 ft.
Crew :	three
Armament :	Two forward firing .50 caliber machine guns, one mounted in each wing
	One .50 caliber machine gun in a Grumman 150SE power turret