N7075C / Reeder FS #55 / Bu# 53785

Warbird Registry
Aerial Visuals

Early History

United States Navy. 1945 Eastern (GM) Grumman TBM-3E. Construction #: 3847. BOC: June 1945. SOC: 1957. #53785 was allocated to VA-18A (later VA-125), June 1948, deployed aboard the U.S.S. Coral Sea and transferred to the Oakland Naval Air Reserve.

Marsh Aviation Co, Litchfield Park, AZ, 1957-1964. Registered as N7075C. Flew as Tanker #23. Note the curved shape of the tank, present even as far back as 1957; its sister aircraft (N7076C) had a similar tank.

N7075C SDASM Archives 1957
Grumman TBM-3, 53785, N7075C, Marsh Aviation, 1957. [SDASM Archives]

Reeder Flying Service, Twin Falls, ID
#55 N7075C 1966-1977

Aerial Spray Program – NB, Newfoundland
1969 – Flew in Newfoundland in 1969, based on figure below. Pilot not known. 1970 – Did not fly in NB. 1971, 1972 – Pilot Laudert. 1973, 1974 – Did not fly in NB.

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TBM fleet (12 of 19) at Deer Lake NF, 1969. Reeder TBMs #56 N7076C and #55 N7075C are in the third row from the front, left to right. [S.E. Holmes]
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Reeder #55 N7075C at Deer Lake, NF, 1969. [S.E. Holmes]
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Reeder TBM #55 and team in the pits, Dunphy NB, 1971. [Merrill McBride]

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Reeder TBM #55 N7075C at Dunphy NB, 1972.
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Jay Sherlock posted this image of N7075C at Scalefirebombers.
N7075C Reeder_TwinFallsID_Jul78_Harry Sievers
Reeder Flying Service TBM N7075C with spray bars ex tanker 55 at Twin Falls, Idaho, July 1978. Slide taken by Harry Sievers, from the Dan Dinneen collection. Posted by Dan Dinneen‎ to TBM’s – Mil & Civil on 2 Dec 2015.

Post-spray History

Dwight Reimer, Shafter CA, 1979-1980. Flew as “My Assam Dragon”.
Gordon Plasket, King City, CA, 1982.
Stephen Grey, Geneva, Switzerland, 1982. Not delivered.
Robert Pond/Planes of Fame East, Spring Park, MN, 1983-2002.
Believed to be at the Palm Springs Air Museum, Palm Springs, CA. Flown in RN/FAA Avenger Mk. III scheme as JR456/RP. There is an image in the Aircraft Gallery. See Aerial Visuals for more up-to-date info.

TBM N7075C_AddisonTX_1980s_img614
Dwight Reimer, Shafter CA, owner 1979-1980, called N7075C “My Assam Dragon”. It still has the distinctive tank.

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