This TBM Avenger at the Peru airport dropped bombs on Japanese targets in the South Pacific during World War II. It now is owned by two Illinois pilots, including Brad Deckert, shown here on the plane looking into the cockpit. Deckert, of Eureka, said the plane is a handful but popular with veterans at air shows.

NT photo/Kemp Smith

It brings tears to veterans who fought in the South Pacific during World War II. That’s what makes the TBM Avenger so valuable to owner Brad Deckert of Eureka.
“The neatest part of owning the plane by far is to interact with the veterans that were involved with them,” Deckert said.
The plane is not a replica. It took enemy fire and dropped bombs on Japanese targets during the war.
“Certainly World War II airplanes have a big interest to me,” Deckert said. “The reason I got involved with this one was the opportunity and price. It was a war bird I could afford to get into.”
Ever since Deckert’s Avenger appeared in 2008 at Illinois Valley Regional Airport, Peru, airplane enthusiasts and veterans have flocked to see it.
“It’s great to see it running,” said Tom Hartman of Peru, who is helping Deckert restore the plane.

“That’s what brings people out, those big old round radial engines.”

Deckert keeps the plane in a Peru hangar while he repairs and restores it.

“There are no hangars here in the Peoria area that are tall enough,” Deckert said.
The stout blue bomber is hard to miss when it’s running.
“To just be standing by it when it starts up, you can feel it on the asphalt,” Deckert said. “The sound gives you a thump in your chest.”
There are 15 to 20 Avengers still flying. Less than five of those saw battle, according to Deckert’s best guess. His plane’s history is well-documented by military records.
A week ago Deckert and his volunteer work crew found two bullet holes near the cockpit of the 64-year-old plane. Deckert believes the holes were made by anti-aircraft rounds.

BUILT FOR WAR, NOT AIR SHOWS
The plane is a pleasure for Deckert to fly but not a pleasure craft, he said.
“It is a very heavy airplane,” he said. “Not too many creature comforts but very powerful, very fun.”
It takes at least two people to start it. Deckert doesn’t fly it in winter because it takes an hour to warm up. The plane holds 50 gallons of oil.
“It’s designed to fly in the South Pacific,” Deckert said. “It’s not the kind of plane you’re fighting over to fly. Fuel and oil alone is $900 an hour. There’s always something that needs attention.”
Deckert’s plane was built in 1945 by General Motors for Grumman. TBM stands for torpedo bomber and General Motors. To avenge the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, it was named Avenger.
Deckert’s Avenger dropped bombs on Okinawa from the carrier U.S.S. Vella Gulf. The plane’s bay can hold a 2,000-pound torpedo or several bombs.
“It was built as a torpedo airplane but the torpedoes were so inaccurate that they had better results just dropping bombs,” Deckert said. “We don’t think this plane dropped any torpedoes. It dropped 500-pound bombs.”
At almost 18,000 pounds it was the heaviest single-engine plane in the war. It was the first with hydraulic wing-folding to save space on carrier decks.
“Most of these were just pushed off the carriers when the war ended,” Deckert said. “There was no use. Keeping them was a logistical problem. They used them up. It was easier to push them off than to deal with them.”
Deckert said the U.S. military expected these aircraft to fly 500 hours. Deckert’s single-engine Avenger logged 1,333 hours with the U.S. Navy and Marines until it was stricken from military records in 1956.
The plane found a second life. It was a crop duster in Texas and a firebomber (forest fire plane) in Wyoming before going to Canada to fight fires. In 1974 a pilot was forced to land her in a swamp between Chatham, Ontario and Lake Erie. The pilot survived.
In 2005 the Fargo Air Museum, Fargo, N.D., acquired it. The museum began a major expansion and because it had two Avengers, it decided to sell one.
Deckert owns an electrical contracting business in Eureka. He and a pilot from Mackinaw, Linda Schumm, decided to buy it in 2008. They are looking for more co-owners.
“It was a rare find,” Deckert said. “We had the opportunity to buy it for what I thought was a pretty good price and we just jumped in with both feet.”

A TREAT FOR VETERANS
At air shows and fly-ins, the plane attracts military veterans.
“I was surprised almost immediately with the response I got from veterans thanking me,” Deckert said. “They’re thanking me for keeping this piece of history alive. It became a much bigger thing than just a big noisy toy.”
Veterans get privileged access. They get to sit in the cockpit and take rides.
Deckert met a veteran who flew Avengers during the war. The man was invited to sit in the cockpit. It rekindled 60-year-old memories and he began crying, Deckert said.
“That is a normal occurrence, almost without exception,” he said. “There’s nothing like talking with a teary-eyed veteran as he talks about some of the most important things he did in his life. We give those guys rides every chance we get.”
It becomes a treat for veterans’ families as well, Deckert said.
“We get a lot of second generation people who say ‘my dad or my grandpa flew these in the war,’” Deckert said. “It’s a lot of fun to show them. You’ll see sons and daughters standing in the background as they tell us stories and then they’ll come up and say ‘we never heard these stories.’”
Hartman supports Deckert’s mission to keep it operating so veterans can see and enjoy it.
“He wants to let them see the plane and bring back memories,” Hartman said. “There’s not much time left for the older guys.”

RESTORING THE AVENGER
Winter is a time to work on the plane, Deckert said. He’s attracted a volunteer crew of workers.
“We always need to do some kind of major work to it,” he said. “More volunteers and laborers are welcome. We’d be happy to have you.”
Deckert sees himself as a caretaker of history. He’s restoring the Avenger’s original features. He calls the plane a “flying restoration” because it’s still operable.
“We are in the process of adding an original ball turret and also a completely original cockpit,” Deckert said.
Greg Bohn, a construction contractor in Peru and a pilot, spends countless hours working on the plane. On a recent day Bohn cleaned dust, grit and oil from the interior in preparation for a coat of olive drab paint.
Bohn never piloted the Avenger.
“I’ve ridden in it a lot of times,” he said. “It’s really loud and very, very powerful. It’s a big engine.” Bohn recited the engine’s specifications: “2,600 cubic inches, 14 cylinders, 1,900 horsepower.”
Hartman is a pilot who served on the carrier U.S.S. Independence during the Vietnam War.
“I’ve always been interested in airplanes since I was a kid,” Hartman said. “So I just volunteered. It was on my bucket list to work on an old World War II plane.”