C-GLEG CF-KPJ N68663 / Sis-Q #E25 #E28 / FPL #E25 / Bu# 53334

Early History

United States Navy. TBM-3S. Construction #: 3396.
Royal Canadian Navy. Delivered to RCN as #349. BOC: Oct. 17, 1950. SOC: Apr. 22, 1958.

Airspray Ltd, Wetaskiwin, Alberta
CF-KPJ – #702 – 1958-1959

1958 – Spray tank converted to fire fighting configuration on according to document dated 9 September 1958 (below). 1959-1962 – no details. 1963 – FKPJ was sold to Klamath Aircraft Inc, Klamath Falls, Oregon, and registered as N68663.

We do not have any record of FKPJ coming to New Brunswick as an Airspray Avenger. Its sister aircraft, FKYA, however, crashed in New Brunswick in 1960 and was destroyed.

Posted 29Nov14 by Dan Dineen to TBMs - Mil & Civ — This tank conversion document must have been part of a group of documents pertaining to CF-KPJ. The document is dated 9 September 1958. Posted 29 November 14 by Dan Dineen to TBMs – Mil & Civil.

clip_image004 — Airspray TBM #702 FKPJ at an air show in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, 1958 [Gordon Hunter]

Posted by Dan Dinneen to TBM's - Mil & Civil on 27 Feb 2016. — Airspray Ltd TBM-3S Tanker #702 CF-KPJ at Edmonton, Alberta, 1960, taken by Larry Milberry. From the Dan Dinneen collection. Posted to TBM’s – Mil & Civil by Dan Dineen 27 February 2016.

CF-KPJ_EdmontonAL_1960-LMilberry - 1 — Airspray Ltd TBM-3S Tanker #702 Edmonton , Alberta, 1960, taken by Larry Milberry. From the Dan Dinneen collection.
Posted to TBM’s – Mil & Civ by Dan Dineen 14 April 2015.

Klamath Aircraft Inc, Klamath Falls, Oregon, registered as N68663, 1963-1966.

Posted by Dan Dineen 21Nov14 to TBMs - Mil & Civ. — Document giving permission for ferry of #53334 from Klamath Aircraft of Klamath Falls, Oregon, to new owner Sis-Q in Monague, California. Issue date is 20 September 1966. Posted by Dan Dineen to TBMs – Mil & Civil on 21 Nov 2014.

Sis-Q Flying Service, Santa Rosa, CA
#E28 / #E25 N68663 1969-1974

Aerial Spray Program – NB, Quebec
1971 – Flew as #E28. Pilot Poteet. 1972 – Flew in Quebec as #E25. Pilot Fagan. 1973-1974 – Did not fly in NB. 1974 – Sis-Q Flying Service sold N68663 to Forest Protection Limited in 1974, one of 5 in total.

Note: This aircraft, #E25 N68663, should not be confused with Miramichi Air Services Avenger #A25, which was registered in the US as N68683 before coming to Canada as CF-BEF.

Note on #E28 vs. #E25: Jay Sherlock’s photo clearly shows Sis-Q N68663 as #E25 in 1969, assuming the year on the caption is correct. However, the McBride photo below clearly shows it as #E28 in 1971. FPL working pilot/team lists from 1971 designate N68663 as #E28, but one list shows the #E28 amended to #E25.

Sis-Q TBM#E25_SantaRosaCA_Sep1974_JSherlock-47 — At the Sis-Q hangar as E25. [Jay Sherlock, Scalefirebombers]

clip_image009 — A Martin Kyburz photo from 1974 showing N68663 #E25. The tail in the background numbered E24 belongs to N7961C, which became FPL’s #24, GLEJ.

Forest Protection Limited, Fredericton, NB
#E25 C-GLEG 1974-1975

Aerial Spray Program – NB
1974 – FPL purchased #E25 in 1974 from Sis-Q Flying Service Inc., Santa Rosa, California. 1975 – Dry leased from Evergreen Air Services, Roxboro, Quebec. Note: The number E25 was assigned to FIMR in 1976 after the crash of GLEG. Pilots Darran and Archer.

1975 – Crashed 4 July 1975 p.m. TBM #E25 C-GLEG piloted by Albert “Bert” Archer and owned by FPL crashed from fuel starvation on the shoulder of Highway 8 approx. 1 mile north [1 mile east says Don Henry] of the Dunphy Airstrip while on a routine flight check out of Dunphy Airstrip while being readied for a post-larval experimental spray of adult budworm. Archer was unhurt but the aircraft was a write-off and was later stripped and junked. The Department of Transport summary report and accident card are located below.