During the World War II era, the Navy contracted for aircraft designs from many manufacturers in an attempt to find the best aircraft to meet combat requirements. While the TBF Avenger is well known as naval aviations front line torpedo bomber during most of World War II, just two weeks after the Navy contracted with Grumman for development of that aircraft, the Navy ordered another three-seat torpedo bomber from Vought. The prototype was designated the XTBU-1 and it made its first flight on December 22, 1941, seventy-three years ago today. With Vought not having the production capacity to manufacture the aircraft owing to its emphasis on producing the F4U Corsair, the production was shifted to Consolidated. Though 1,100 planes were ordered, only 180 were ultimately built, the TBY Seawolf never eclipsing the Avenger.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 20:45:01 +0000
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