The C-45 Expeditor was the World War II military version of the popular Beechcraft Model 18 commercial light transport. Beech built a total of 4,526 of these aircraft in four versions for the US Army Air Forces between 1939 and 1945: AT-7 navigator trainer, AT-11 bombing-gunnery trainer, C-45 utility transport, and F-2 aerial photography and mapping. During the early 1950s, Beech rebuilt 900 C-45s for the US Air Force, designated the C-45G and C-45H. These C-45Gs and C-45Hs were originally configured as the AT-7 or AT-11.
Hill Air Force Base’s depot periodically performed routine maintenance on the C-45 and its many variants. In 1946, the US Army Air Forces assigned Hill personnel a project to repair AT-7 and AT-11 trainer aircraft for the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve. Beginning in 1946, hundreds of C-45 variants arrived on base for storage. Then, in 1948, the US Air Force tasked Hill a unique project to pull 102 of the AT-11 aircraft out of storage and refurbish them for delivery to the Turkish Air Force. By the late 1950s, the base had participated in the final phasing out of the C-45.
Beech Aircraft Corporation in Wichita, Kansas, rebuilt this C-45H and delivered it to the US Air Force on 27 August 1954. It went on to serve in several Air National Guard squadrons and even with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). In October 1985, a USDA pilot ferried this C-45 from Moore Air Force Base, Texas, to Hill Air Force Base. Once at Hill, personnel placed the C-45 on display at the Hill Aerospace Museum.
Serial Number: S/N 52-10862
Primary Function: Flight Training, Military Transport
Crew: Two
Engines: Two Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-14B Wasp Junior radials; 450 hp each
Wingspan: 47 ft 8 in
Length: 34 ft 3 in
Height: 9 ft 9 in
Weight: 9,300 lbs
Speed: Maximum Speed: 225 mph; Cruising Speed: 160 mph
Range: 1,140 miles
Service Ceiling: 18,200 ft
Armament: None
Payload: None
Years of Service: 1937 – 1963
