Walk Around Photo Feature:       SNB-5 Expeditor Beechcraft

This is a walk around of a Beechcraft SNB-5 Expeditor, I took these Photos at the Maps Air Museum in North Canton, Ohio in July 2015.

From the Museum Placard:

The Beechcraft Model 18, "Twin Beech", as it was better known, saw military service during and after World War II in a number of versions including the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) C-45 Expeditor, At-7 Navigator, AT-11 Kansan,  and for the United States Navy, (USN), UC-45J Navigator, and the SNB-5 Expeditor.  Of the nearly 10,000 Model 18's built, over 5,250 were for the US military and were used to train navigators (AT-7/SNB-2), Gunners and bombardiers (At-11/SNB-1), and pilots, and for transporting cargo and personnel (C-45/SNB-5/JRB), and for aerial photography and mapping (F-2).  Over 90 percent of US navigators and bombardiers in World War II trained in versions of the Twin Beech.

Quick Facts:

• Role:  Trainer and Utility Aircraft
• Manufacturer:  Beechcraft Aircraft Corporation
• Produced:  1937 - 1970
• Number Built:  9,000+
• First Flight:  January 15, 1937
• Introduction:  March 1, 1937
• Retired:  June 14, 1976
• Cruise Speed:  220 mph
• Range:  1,200 miles
• Crew:  2

History of the Displayed Aircraft:

SNB-5, Serial Number 43-33316

• Oct 1943:  Built at Beechcraft Aircraft, Wichita, Kansas.  Delivered to the United States Army Air Force as Beech AT-7 on 26 October 1943.
• Oct 1943:  U.S. Army Air Force Navigation School, San Marcos, Texas
• Dec 1945:  Transferred to the U.S. Navy.  Designated as SNB-2.
• Jan 1946:  Naval Air Station, Corpus Christi, Texas
• Jul 1946:  Naval Air Station, Olathe, Kansas.
• Feb 1948:  Naval Air Station, Norfolk, Virginia.
• Aug 1948:  Fleet Air Support Squadron (FASRON) 103, Naval Air Station, Atlantic City, New Jersey.
• Jul 1949:  Returned to Beechcraft,  rebuilt into D-18S.
• Aug 1951:  Returned to the U.S. Navy as an SNB-5.
• Feb 1952:  Transferred to U.S. Marines.
• Apr 1952:  Fleet Marine Corps, Headquarters and Maintenance Squadron, Miramir, California.  Redesignated as UC-45J.
• Aug 1968:  Dropped from Navy Inventory.  Transferred to U.S. Army.
• Jan 1971:  Placed in storage at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center (AMARC), Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.  
• Aug 1971:  Acquired by the University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas.
• Sep 1984:  Acquired by the Military Aircraft Restoration Corporation (MARC), Chino, California.
• Jan 1990:  Placed on loan to the Combat Aircraft Museum, Topeka, Kansas, by MARC.
• Sep 1990:  Aircraft flown to MAPS and placed on indefinite loan by MARC.