Manufactured by Beech
Transport
Beech Aircraft Co. sold its first Model 18, or Twin Beech, in June of 1937. The US Army Air Corps first became interested in 1939 after foreign orders were placed for pilot training and light bomber versions. The first US Army orders were placed with Beech in 1940, for a light transport aircraft to be known as the C-45. Even before the US entry into WWII, the design was recognized as extremely versatile and orders for training models increased dramatically.
During the war years, over 5,400 aircraft were delivered to the US Army and Navy. These included the AT-11 bombardier/gunner trainer, the AT-7 navigator trainer, the F-2 photo-recon aircraft, and the C-45.
Starting in 1949, almost half of the military versions were re-manufactured by Beech, with the last C-45s serving until 1964. After a 32 year production run, the last Twin Beech was delivered in November of 1969.
Our UC-45 Expeditor
AT-11 42-37496 was delivered to the Army Air Forces in September 1943. Like many trainer versions, it was rebuilt after the war to standard Twin Beech configuration. For this reason, the aircraft is displayed as a C-45.