Ed Wuerker, a 74 year old New Jersey Farmer, fulfilled a lifelong dream when he bought a TBM Avenger in 2005.

Wuerker…plunked down $60,000 and bought it. It has taken eight years to restore and to get the FAA approvals for the plane and his own certifications needed to fly it, but Wuerker recently got it airborne for the first time since it was used to fight forest fires in Canada.

The Avenger is the same aircraft President George H.W. Bush flew — and was shot down in — in WWII.

The plane is more functional than pretty right now, as Wuerker has a pilot’s attitude about the aircraft:

“Fly it must. Shine it may,” is how Wuerker described his approach.

See photos of Wuerker and his TBM “Suzanne” here.

Duplicated at the Stars and Stripes.

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