Hi everyone,

Would like to know how much fuel a fully-fueled TBF Avenger could carry, and how long such a plane could fly for, full-fueled.

Thanks. Searched various places, but found nothing. Thought it would be better to come straight here...

My reasons for asking is that I want to know what time Flight 19 (which disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle in 1945) might possibly have crashed. The official record is that they left Fort Lauderdale at 1400 hours (2:00pm in the afternoon) and that they would be able to fly until 2000 hours (8:00pm that evening). Which would mean a total possible flying time of six hours (all planes were fully-fueled before taking off), does 2:00pm-8:00pm sound like a correct length of flying-time?

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My detailed plane encyclopedia says range 1000miles and max speed 276mph, so 6 hours to do 1000miles is around 170mph and probably perfectly realistic. It obviously depends on whether the range in the book is for a fully fuelled unarmed plane or one fully armed and carrying a hefty torpedo, and similarly for your example....

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103 Squadron - Noli Me Tangere