This Military Service Page was created/owned by
Sgt James Hilton (Jay)
to remember
Hilton, James (Red, Jim), SMSgt USAF(Ret).
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Contact Info
Last Address Irving Kansas
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
1942-1943, AT-11 Kansan
From Year 1942
To Year 1943
Personal Memories
Assigned to Roswell NM with the 546th Bomb Training Squadron and worked on AT-11 and B-17 aircraft.
Image
AT-11 Kansan Details
Aircraft/Missile Information
The Model 18 Twin Beech twin-engine aircraft were designed by Beech as a response to global tension in the late 1930s. After the prototype took flight in 1937, China issued a order amounting to $750,000 to convert these aircraft into light bombers, but only 39 were delivered by the time China entered WW2 in Jul 1937. As the United States geared for war, the Model 18 design were built as US Army AT-7 Navigator, AT-11 Kansan, and C-45 Expeditor aircraft and US Navy SNB Kansan, JRB Kansan, and UC-45 Expeditor Navigator aircraft. They were used as transports or trainers. After the war, the US Air Force kept C-45 aircraft in use until 1963, Navy SNB aircraft until 1972, and US Army C-45 aircraft until 1976. The production of the Model 18 aircraft did not stop until 1970, with the last model exported to Japan Airlines, making the design the longest continuous production of a piston engine aircraft; a total of nearly 8,000 were built during the production life. In addition to the production record, Model 18 also held the most US Federal Aviation Administration-approved Supplemental Type Certificates of any aircraft design (over 200), making it the most modified American aircraft. In the civilian world, they were used for a wide variety of functions, including pesticide spraying, fish seeding, firefighting, ambulance service, and cargo and passenger transportation.
