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The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors is pretty specific about how torpedoes were aimed/launched from Avengers. They were launched by the pilot who had a rather simple leveling device, range-finder, and some other fairly basic instruments. The third member of the crew on an Avenger was a combination Navigator/Radio Operator/Bombadier/and sometimes Radar Operator. I don't remember who said it above but they are correct. Three crew Avengers were primarily for land bombing missions and close air support. Avengers were one of the first Navy planes to be equipped with radios that could directly communicate with Army radios.

These crewmen didn't fly on every mission and it was generally considered impossible to successfully bail out of a hit plane from that station.

I believe Avengers usually flew with a crew of 3 and I have never heard of anyone having trouble bailing out of the belly position. There is a lot of evidence that Devestators (TBDs) only flew with crews of 2 on torpedo missions. The TBD was such a marginal aircraft by 1942 (it was the most advanced carried plane in the world when it was introduced, but it was also one of the oldest in service at the beginning of the war) that they were probably doing all they could to try and improve performance. Dropping the 160 pounds of the third crewman on torpedo missions was probably a performance boost.

Bill

Look at the thread in this forum "Interesting Short Film". on second page.
Cheers