Beechcraft 18 on floats.

Beechcraft 18/C-45 at the
National Museum of the United States Air Force

Instructor and pilot in a Beechcraft AT-7 doing navigation training at Kelly Field, TX.

The Beechcraft Model 18, or "Twin Beech", as it was better known, is a 6-11 place, twin-engine, low-wing, conventional-gear aircraft that was manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. This model saw service during and after World War II in a number of versions including the United States Army Air Forces C-45 Expeditor, AT-7 Navigator, AT-11 Kansan, and for the United States Navy, UC-45J Navigator and the SNB-1 Kansan. An estimated aggregate total time in service for the aircraft time is in excess of 20,000,000 hours of flight time. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 781 × 599 pixels Full resolution (860 × 660 pixel, file size: 111 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: The pilot heads his bombing training plane (Beechcraft AT-11), out over the vast West Texas prairies to its target as the bombardier student... The Beriev Be-200 is an utility aircraft. ... An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, and/or spacecraft. ... The Beech Aircraft Corporation, purchased by Raytheon Aircraft on February 8, 1980, and often called Beechcraft after the name they give their aircraft, is a manufacturer of general aviation and military aircraft, ranging from light single engine aircraft to business jets and light military transports. ... The Maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord. ... is the 15th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 568 pixels Full resolution (1067 × 758 pixel, file size: 98 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Other versions Originally from en. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 568 pixels Full resolution (1067 × 758 pixel, file size: 98 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Other versions Originally from en. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 540 pixels Full resolution (1800 × 1215 pixel, file size: 256 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: Beech C-45H Expeditor Source:USAF Museum File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 540 pixels Full resolution (1800 × 1215 pixel, file size: 256 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: Beech C-45H Expeditor Source:USAF Museum File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects... View of the National Museum of the United States Air Force Main entrance to the museum The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official national museum of the United States Air Force and is located at Wright-Patterson Air... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 778 × 600 pixels Full resolution (860 × 663 pixel, file size: 113 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: In this flying classroom, a Beechcraft AT-7 advanced training plane, Air Corps student navigators of Kelly Field, Texas, learn one of the top... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 778 × 600 pixels Full resolution (860 × 663 pixel, file size: 113 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: In this flying classroom, a Beechcraft AT-7 advanced training plane, Air Corps student navigators of Kelly Field, Texas, learn one of the top... Kelly Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located in San Antonio, Texas. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was the aviation component of the United States Army primarily during World War II. The title of Army Air Forces succeeded the prior name of Army Air Corps in June 1941 during preparation for expected combat in what came to be known as... USN redirects here. ...

The Beech 18 is the most modified US-certified aircraft design, with over 200 FAA approved Supplemental Type Certificates on record for the aircraft. A Type Certificate (sometimes called Airworthiness Certificate), is awarded by aviation regulating bodies (such as FAA in US and EASA in EU) to aerospace firms after it has been established that the particular design of aircraft, engines or propeller submitted has fulfilled the the regulating bodies current prevailing airworthiness requirements...

The aircraft uses have included aerial spraying, sterile bug release, fish seeding, dry ice cloud seeding, aerial fire fighting, airborne mail pick up and drop, ambulance service, numerous movie productions, skydiving, freight, gun and drug smuggling, engine test bed, skywriting and banner tow. A number of Model 18s were operated as passenger aircraft, The Model 18 was also the first aircraft flown by Philippine Airlines, Asia's first and oldest airline. Many are now in private hands as highly prized collectibles. Skydiver about to land Parachuting, or skydiving, is a recreational activity, competitive sport and method of deployment of military personnel (and occasionally, firefighters). ... Philippine Airlines is the national airline of the Philippines. ...

Design and development

By the late 1930s, the winds of war had blown across Europe. Beechcraft management knew the company would be called upon to help the allied cause and they bet the future on increased production facilities and a new design dubbed the Model 18. The design was mainly conventional for the time, including twin radial engines, all-metal semi-monocoque construction with fabric covered control surfaces and "taildragger" undercarriage, while less common were the twin tail fins. Early production aircraft were either powered by two 225kW (300hp) Jacobs L6s or 260kW (350hp) Wright R-760Es. The 295kW (450hp) Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior became the definitive engine from the prewar C18S onwards. The Beech 18 prototype first flew on 15 January 1937. Monocoque (French for single shell) is a construction technique that uses the external skin of an object to support some or most of the load on the structure. ... Partially-sectioned Wright J-6 at Canada Aviation Museum The Wright Whirlwind was a family of 7 & 9-cylinder air-cooled radial aero-engines developed by the Wright Aeronautical Corporation. ... The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior was an engine widely used in American aircraft starting in the 1930s. ...

The aircraft has used a variety of engines and has had a number of airframe modifications to increase gross weight and speed. At least one aircraft was modified to a 450kW (600hp) Pratt & Whitney R-1340 powerplant configuration. With the added weight of approximately 200 pounds per engine, the doncept of a Model 18 fitted with R-1340 engines was deemed unsatisfactory due to the weakest structural area of the aircraft being the engine mounts. With the exception of the center truss, the central component around which the entire aircraft is built, nearly every airframe component has been modified at one time or another. Pratt & Whitney R-1340 The Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp was a reciprocating engine widely used in American aircraft from the 1920s onward. ...

Construction of the Beechcraft Model 18 ended in 1970 with the last Model 18 built going to Japan Airlines. Beechcraft set a record that still stands today for longest continuous production of a piston engine aircraft. Through the years, 32 variations of the basic design had flown, over 200 improvement modification kits were developed, and almost 8,000 aircraft had been built. Some aircraft were almost unrecognizable as having originated as a Beech 18. In one case the aircraft was modified to a triple tail, tri-gear, hump backed configuration and appeared similar to a miniature Lockheed Constellation. The Lockheed Constellation, affectionately known as the “Connie”, was a four-engine propeller-driven airliner built by Lockheed between 1943 and 1958 at its Burbank, California, USA, facility. ...

Operational history

China sent the company 750k USD in return for light bombers based on the Model 18 design, but by the beginning of the war, only 39 Model 18s had been sold. Work began in earnest on a variant specifically for training fledgling military pilots, bombardiers and navigators. The effort resulted in the Army AT-7 and Navy SNB. Further development led to the AT-11 and SNB-2 navigation trainers and the C-45 military transport. There was even, eventually, an experimental XA-38 attack version with a huge cannon in the nose, although it never went into production. The USAF Strategic Air Command had Beechcraft Model 18 (AT-11 Kansans, C-45 Expeditors, F-2 Expeditors, the "F" standing for "Fotorecon", and UC-45 Expeditors) from 1946 through 1951. The C-45 flew in US Air Force service until 1963, the US Navy retired their last SNB in 1972 while the US Army flew their C-45s through 1976. Seal of the Air Force. ... For the film of the same name, see Strategic Air Command (film) The Strategic Air Command (SAC) was the operational establishment of the United States Air Force in charge of Americas bomber-based and ballistic missile-based strategic nuclear arsenal from 1946 to 1992. ...

Some of the modifications created by independent engineering entrepreneurs were adopted in concept by the factory in later production versions in similar fashion to the current practice Harley Davidson copying of custom motorcycles built in the 1960s and 1970s. Among the most notable cooling air and exhaust modifications were those engineered by Benjamin Israel while employed by Conrad Conversions. His modifications were based largely on creating a more efficient use of cooling air to reduce cooling drag, a major detriment to aircraft cruise performance. The difference in cruise performance was a significant 10% or better at the same power settings as before the modifications. These modifications were largely copied on the factory produced G and H models.

A factory option at one point was the addition of JATO bottles on each engine nacelle which added the equivalent of 200 horse power per engine for about 12 seconds. The most successful powerplant upgrade was that of the Pratt & Whitney PT-6 turbine engine and Hartzell propellor. This combination of engine and propellor successfully extended the commercial life of the aging aircraft. The PT6 is a turboprop aircraft engine manufactured by Pratt & Whitney Canada and is the most popular turboprop in history [1]. It has an unusual design in that the air enters from the rear of the engine and the power section is at the front. ...

Operators

Military Model 18 operators

•  Argentina
•  Bolivia
•  Brazil
•  Canada
•  China
•  Colombia
•  Costa Rica
•  Côte d'Ivoire
•  Dominican Republic
•  Ecuador
•  El Salvador
•  France
•  Guatemala
•  Honduras
•  Indonesia
•  Italy
•  Mexico
•  Nicaragua
•  Niger
•  Nigeria
•  Peru
•  Philippines
•  Portugal
•  Somalia
•  South Africa
•  Spain
•  Sri Lanka
•  Sweden
•  Thailand
•  Turkey
•  United Kingdom: Royal Air Force, Royal Navy
•  United States: US Army, US Army Air Corps, US Army Air Force, US Air Force, US Marine Corps, US Navy
•  Uruguay
•  Venezuela
•  Zaire

Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 352 pixels Full resolution (1427 × 628 pixel, file size: 51 KB, MIME type: image/png) World map of military operators of the Beechcraft Model 18 File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 352 pixels Full resolution (1427 × 628 pixel, file size: 51 KB, MIME type: image/png) World map of military operators of the Beechcraft Model 18 File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on... Image File history File links Flag_of_Argentina. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Bolivia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Brazil. ... Image File history File links Canadian_Red_Ensign_1921. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Republic_of_China. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Colombia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Costa_Rica. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Cote_d'Ivoire. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Dominican_Republic. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Ecuador. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_El_Salvador. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Guatemala. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Honduras. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Indonesia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Italy. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Mexico. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Nicaragua. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Niger. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Nigeria. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Peru. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Philippines. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Portugal. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Somalia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_South_Africa. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Spain. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Sri_Lanka. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Sweden. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Thailand. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Turkey. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore the Senior Service). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... 1. ... USAAF recruitment poster. ... Seal of the Air Force. ... United States Marine Corps Emblem The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is the second smallest of the five branches of the United States armed forces, with 170,000 active and 40,000 reserve Marines as of 2002. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Uruguay. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Venezuela. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Zaire. ...

Specifications (UC-45 Expeditor)

Beechcraft UC-45F in flight.

C-45H/AT-7 CAF, Platte Valley Airpark, Hudson, CO, June 2007

Data from Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II^[1] Image File history File links Size of this preview: 773 × 600 pixels Full resolution (860 × 667 pixel, file size: 138 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: Beechcraft UC-45F in flight. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 773 × 600 pixels Full resolution (860 × 667 pixel, file size: 138 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Description: Beechcraft UC-45F in flight. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ... The Commemorative Air Force (CAF), formerly known as the Confederate Air Force, is a Texas-based non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and showing historical aircraft. ... Platte Valley Airpark (FAA LID: 18V) is a public-use airport located three miles (5 km) northwest of the central business district of Hudson, a town in Weld County, Colorado, United States. ...

General characteristics

• Crew: 2 pilots
• Capacity: 6 passengers
• Length: 34 ft 2 in (10.41 m)
• Wingspan: 47 ft 8 in (14.53 m)
• Height: 9 ft 8 in (2.95 m)
• Wing area: 349 ft² (32.4 m²)
• Empty weight: 6,175 lb (2,800 kg)
• Loaded weight: 7,500 lb (3,400 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 8,727 lb (3,959 kg)
• Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-1 "Wasp Junior" radial engines, 450 hp (336 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 225 mph (195 knots, 360 km/h)
• Range: 1,200 mi (1,000 nm, 1,900 km) at 160 mph (260 km/h)
• Service ceiling: 26,000 ft (7,930 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,850 ft/min (9.4 m/s)

The distance AB is the wing span of this Aer Lingus Airbus A320. ... In aviation, the Maximum Take-Off Weight (or MTOW) is the maximum weight with which an aircraft is allowed to try to achieve flight. ... The Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior was an engine widely used in American aircraft starting in the 1930s. ... The radial engine is an internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders point outward from a central crankshaft like the spokes on a wheel. ... VNO of an aircraft is the V speed which refers to the velocity of normal operation. ... The maximal total range is the distance an aircraft can fly between takeoff and landing, as limited by fuel capacity in powered aircraft, or cross-country speed and environmental conditions in unpowered aircraft. ... In aeronautics, the service ceiling is the maximum density altitude where the best rate of climb airspeed will produce a 100 feet per minute climb(twin engine) and 50 feet(single engine) at maximum weight while in a clean configuration with maximum continuous power. ... This page is a candidate to be moved to Wiktionary. ...

References

• Mondey, David. American Aircraft of World War II (Hamlyn Concise Guide). London: Bounty Books, 2006. ISBN 978-0-7537-1461-4.

Related content

Comparable aircraft

• Barkley-Grow T8P
• Cessna T-50 Bobcat
• Edwards XMBM-1
• Evangel
• Fairchild AT-21 Gunner
• Langley Twin 2-4-90
• Lockheed Electra
• Lockheed Hudson
• Lockheed Lodestar

Designation sequence

• Beechcraft: 17 - 18 - 19 - 23 - 24
• Army Air Corps:
  • Cargo C-41 - C-42 - C-43 - C-44 - C-45 - C-46 - C-47 - C-48
  • Advanced trainer: AT-8 - AT-9 - AT-10 - AT-11 - AT-12 - AT-13 - AT-14

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of the United States

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