At the airshow in Dittingen I came across a very special aircraft, the TBM-3R Avenger. A torpedo bomber converted into a supply aircraft. With its 16.5 meters wingspan it’s quite large compared to other common fighter airplanes and the flight demonstration was absolutely impressive. At that time, I decided that I’ll recreate this aircraft.

Specifications

Wingspan: 1.375m
Weight: 1.7kg
Engine: Hyperion 3025-8
Battery: 4s LiPo

Discussion in German on RC-Network

Download dxf plan

A picture I took of the original airplane at the airshow Dittingen

My finished replica at 1:12 scale

Build

To keep the effort small, I decided to go for the aircombat size 1:12, which still gives 137cm wingspan. After spending some time with CAD, I suddenly had this in front of me:

Glued on some balsa sheeting:

And some more:

Access to the inside goes through the torpedo flaps, there’s plenty of space for big batteries:

Tail puzzle:

Planked with 2mm balsa sheed and fitted for trial:

A significant detail on the Avenger is the large canopy, which looks like this after a lot of carving and sanding:

The front part of the engine cowl is built up from several layers of balsa and then sanded:

The wings should not be missing either, it simply flies somewhat better… A spar made of milled poplar and 2 pine slats, and the frame is ready:

I made the canopy provisionally from shrink tubing, but later it got replaced by a vacuum formed part. I planked the wings with 1.5mm balsa.

Aluminium tubes are used to attach the wings, while hooks and rubber rings are used to hold them in place.

Covering the fuselage is a little time-consuming, but the result is rewarding: