Beech C-45H Expeditor
In the late 1930s, the Beech Aircraft Company anticipated a market for small six-to-twelve seat aircraft that would be used in regional areas unsuited to bigger airliners such as the DC-3. Moreover, with war on the horizon, Beech also anticipated that the military would need light transports. With this in mind, Beech began work on the Model 18, a fairly simple two-engine design that could hold six passengers. While successful when it first flew in January 1937, the Model 18 faced an uphill battle with the proven and more popular Lockheed Electra 12. By December 1941, less than 40 Beech 18s had been sold and the company was in danger of bankruptcy.
Like so many designs, however, America’s entry into the war after the Pearl Harbor attack saved the Model 18 and Beech. The USAAF underwent massive expansion and needed training aircraft in a hurry. Lockheed had to end production of the Electra to concentrate on building P-38 Lightnings, leaving Beech in a perfect position to market the Model 18. Both the USAAF and the US Navy quickly adopted the Model 18 as the C-45 Expeditor and SNB-1 respectively, using it to train navigators and photo reconnaissance personnel.
Faced with the need for aerial gunners as the USAAF began to plan for the strategic bombing offensive against Germany and Japan, the C-45 was then modified into the AT-11 Kansan, with a glass nose and dorsal turret mounting machine guns. Trainees, following ground practice, would go up in the AT-11 and fire at aerial targets to get used to a moving platform; thousands of gunners who would end up on B-17s and B-29s started off in the Kansan, while navigators cut their teeth in the more conventional C-45. The plane’s reliability also meant that it was useful as a liasion aircraft as well.
Following the end of the war, the C-45/Model 18 did not wane in popularity; both services kept it in the inventory. While the AT-11 was retired (and most converted back to Model 18s), the C-45 remained in service as a navigation trainer and liasion aircraft. Beech, for its part, marketed the Model 18 very successfully, with the result that 9000 were built in a dizzying 32 variants. This does not include individual modifications, which exceed 200 known subtypes with different fuselages, landing gear arrangements, engines, and seating. Production did not end until 1980, and hundreds are still flyable. It was massively exported, to the point that every air force in the Western Hemisphere has had C-45s in their inventories at one time or another.
This C-45, 42-37418, is one of the older examples left in existence; it was originally built as an AT-11 Kansan gunnery trainer during World War II. After the war, it was converted to a standard T-11 navigation trainer, and then a C-45H with upgraded engines in 1954. In 1963, it was retired and sold to the Alabama Highway Department, and went through a few more owners between then and 1986; it was involved in a fatal accident in 1977, but repaired and returned to flight. Its last owner donated the aircraft to the USAF when it was grounded in 1986, and in turn 42-37418 made its way to the South Dakota Air and Space Museum at Ellsworth AFB.
Today, 42-37418 is displayed as 54-0796, a spurious designation based on Beech's manufacturing number when it was converted to a C-45H. It represents C-45s assigned to the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth; SAC wings often had Expeditors on strength as "hack" general duty aircraft. It is slightly inaccurate as most (if not all) SAC C-45s were painted with white upper fuselages over bare metal, which 42-37418 lacks, though it is in excellent condition for its age.
Beech C-45H Expeditor
In the late 1930s, the Beech Aircraft Company anticipated a market for small six-to-twelve seat aircraft that would be used in regional areas unsuited to bigger airliners such as the DC-3. Moreover, with war on the horizon, Beech also anticipated that the military would need light transports. With this in mind, Beech began work on the Model 18, a fairly simple two-engine design that could hold six passengers. While successful when it first flew in January 1937, the Model 18 faced an uphill battle with the proven and more popular Lockheed Electra 12. By December 1941, less than 40 Beech 18s had been sold and the company was in danger of bankruptcy.
Like so many designs, however, America’s entry into the war after the Pearl Harbor attack saved the Model 18 and Beech. The USAAF underwent massive expansion and needed training aircraft in a hurry. Lockheed had to end production of the Electra to concentrate on building P-38 Lightnings, leaving Beech in a perfect position to market the Model 18. Both the USAAF and the US Navy quickly adopted the Model 18 as the C-45 Expeditor and SNB-1 respectively, using it to train navigators and photo reconnaissance personnel.
Faced with the need for aerial gunners as the USAAF began to plan for the strategic bombing offensive against Germany and Japan, the C-45 was then modified into the AT-11 Kansan, with a glass nose and dorsal turret mounting machine guns. Trainees, following ground practice, would go up in the AT-11 and fire at aerial targets to get used to a moving platform; thousands of gunners who would end up on B-17s and B-29s started off in the Kansan, while navigators cut their teeth in the more conventional C-45. The plane’s reliability also meant that it was useful as a liasion aircraft as well.
Following the end of the war, the C-45/Model 18 did not wane in popularity; both services kept it in the inventory. While the AT-11 was retired (and most converted back to Model 18s), the C-45 remained in service as a navigation trainer and liasion aircraft. Beech, for its part, marketed the Model 18 very successfully, with the result that 9000 were built in a dizzying 32 variants. This does not include individual modifications, which exceed 200 known subtypes with different fuselages, landing gear arrangements, engines, and seating. Production did not end until 1980, and hundreds are still flyable. It was massively exported, to the point that every air force in the Western Hemisphere has had C-45s in their inventories at one time or another.
This C-45, 42-37418, is one of the older examples left in existence; it was originally built as an AT-11 Kansan gunnery trainer during World War II. After the war, it was converted to a standard T-11 navigation trainer, and then a C-45H with upgraded engines in 1954. In 1963, it was retired and sold to the Alabama Highway Department, and went through a few more owners between then and 1986; it was involved in a fatal accident in 1977, but repaired and returned to flight. Its last owner donated the aircraft to the USAF when it was grounded in 1986, and in turn 42-37418 made its way to the South Dakota Air and Space Museum at Ellsworth AFB.
Today, 42-37418 is displayed as 54-0796, a spurious designation based on Beech's manufacturing number when it was converted to a C-45H. It represents C-45s assigned to the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth; SAC wings often had Expeditors on strength as "hack" general duty aircraft. It is slightly inaccurate as most (if not all) SAC C-45s were painted with white upper fuselages over bare metal, which 42-37418 lacks, though it is in excellent condition for its age.