CAF Rocky Mountain Wing Museum CAF Rocky Mountain Wing ( RMW ) Museum is one of 75 local detachments of the national Commemorative Air Force ( CAF ) non - profit aviation association dedicated to " Honoring American Military Aviation through Flight , Exhibit and Remembrance . " The Museum is located at the Grand Junction Regional Airport , Colorado , and contains artifacts and exhibits from World War II , Korean , and Vietnam wars . In addition they operate two aircraft which are part of the CAF ' s fleet of over 170 vintage warbirds . These two examples happen to be both the largest and smallest of single engine aircraft used by American armed forces during WWII , namely a TBM / TBF Avenger and a Piper J - 3 ( Army L - 4 or Navy NE - 1 ) " Grasshopper " . Besides offering these as " hands - on " exhibits , the public may also schedule rides as a passenger in these aircraft either at the museum or at airshows where they are also exhibited . The museum began operation in 1981 with final construction completed in 2000 . Flying aircraft on display . TBM " Avenger " History . The original logbooks of the Museum ' s TBM Avenger BuNo 53503 show that it was accepted by the US Navy on June 1 , 1945 at the Norfolk NAS and assigned to the VT - 75 Squadron - the " Fish Hawks " . It was transferred in 1947 to VT - 82 Squadron - the " Devil ' s Diplomats " and Naval Air Reserve Training at Los Alamitos in southern California . In 1950 it was lend / leased to the Royal Canadian Navy with only 546 total hours flown . TBM 53503 flew in the RCN 881 Squadron from the carrier HMCS Magnificent ( CVL 21 ) as a sub hunter . After her RCN military career ended in 1958 , TBM 53503 was an aerial insecticide applicator from 1963 to 1970 for the Simsbury Flying Service in Simsbury , CT as N6583D . Acquired by the CAF in 1970 where she was painted as VT - 10 ' s " white 82 " with a tri - color Navy scheme for the CV - 10 Yorktown , but still lacked the characteristic dorsal gun turret . She flew with the CAF Ghost Squadron until 1981 in this configuration . During this time , her movie debut can be seen in the first five minutes of the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind as directed by Steven Spielburg . From 1981 until 1985 , the Avenger sat outside in Arizona waiting for her next duty assignment and in desperate need of repair and maintenance on various systems . On January 17 , 1985 TBM 53503 was officially assigned to the CAF Rocky Mountain Wing . By July 1989 , she was once again " ready for duty " - complete with the installation of the dorsal gun turret , and a new paint scheme - that of a TBM assigned to VT - 84 , also known as the " Wolf Gang " squadron , aboard the USS Bunker Hill ( CV - 17 ) . This squadron was the first to attack Tokyo on February 16 & 17 , 1945 and the colorful yellow cowling was adopted to enhance identification as " friendly " when returning to the fleet from their raid . Piper J - 3 " Grasshopper " . This versatile aircraft was first known as the Taylor Cub in 1930 . Later as the Piper J - 3 Cub it became the most prolific trainer in the world . There were 14 , 125 civilian built plus 5 , 703 for military use . The military version was known as " Grasshopper " and had the designation L - 4 in the Army Air Corps and NE - 1 in the Navy . Beyond basic flight training use the Grasshopper was used for military liaison scouting , coastal patrol and medevac .