Performance was key to Beech Aircraft gaining a USAAF
contract for 150 aircraft in 1941. The order was the
first of many and the company eventually built more than
5250 aircraft for the military. The Beech 18 trained
pilots, navigators, bomb aimers and gunners as well as
serving as a military transport. The USAAF operated four
versions; the AT-7 Navigator, the AT-11 Kansan for
bombing and gunnery training, the C-45 Expeditor as a
light transport and the F-2 for aerial photography and
mapping. During WW2, 90% of all USAAF navigators and
bomb aimers were trained on AT-7s and AT-11s.
The last Beech 18 rolled out of the factory on November
26, 1969 was the Beechcraft Super H18 Model, a low-wing
cantilever monoplane of all-metal construction powered
by two Pratt and Whitney R-985AN-14B radial air-cooled
engines providing a cruise speed of 220 miles per hour
and a range of just over 1500 miles. The Beechcraft
Super H18 carries a flight-crew of two and up to nine
passengers in a separate cabin.
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