For All: "Donna Rae", my aircraft nose art from two days ago, went over quite well. However, 5-6 folks asked to see the entire plane upon which she resides. ZOOM is a must:) This collage shows four of about six photos that I took last Sunday. Due to crowding, it was not possible to get a single picture of the entire airplane. The Twin Beech, is a US Navy SNB-5 and was built in Wichita, Kansas by Beech Aircraft Company in 1943. Today it resides at the Combat Air Museum (CAM) in Topeka, Kansas in a very crowded restoration hangar. This is a large hangar filled with partially completed or unrestored aircraft. Donna Rae's aircraft has been largely restored by a core group of four volunteers that spent several days a week for eight years on the project between 1992 and 2000. Quite a labor of love. OK, it used to be said this is a guy thing but some ladies/women/girls like it too :-) Don't forget, all the services and airlines have female pilots, crewmen and mechanics these days! ...... For Aviation Enthusiasts: The Model 18 was one of Beech Aircraft's most successful and longest running production designs. It was produced from 1937 until November 26, 1969. Some 18 commercial variants were built. The first flight took place on January 15, 1937. The Twin Beech Model 18 faced stiff competition from Lockheed's Electra Junior in the late 1930s but after the US's entry into WWII production soared in order to meet the needs of the US military for trainers and utility transports. All branches of the service flew versions of the Twin Beech. Of the nearly 10,000 Model 18s 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). Navigator, Kansan, and Expeditor were all names used for versions of military Model 18s, but the most commonly used name was Twin Beech. In September 1962, all surviving military Model 18s became C-45s with different letter suffixes for different versions. The US Coast Guard stopped flying their JRBs in 1958. The US Air Force retired their C-45s in 1963. The US Navy/Marines retired theirs in 1972, and the US Army ended operations of the C-45 in 1976. Donna Rae's ride, her C-45, had a long list of assignments with the US Navy, the US Department of Agriculture and a couple of civilian owners. She came to the Combat Air Museum (CAM) in October 1988. TECHNICAL DATA (SNB-5) Type: Personnel transport for 6-8 pasengers Crew: Pilot, co-pilot Power Plant: Two 450hp (335.5kW) each Pratt & Whitney R-985 nine-cylinder, air cooled radial engines Dimensions: Span: 47 ft 8 in (14.53m) Length: 34 ft 2 in (10.41m) Height: 9 ft 2 in (2.79m) Wing Area: 349 sq ft (32.42sq m) Weights: Empty: 6,000 lbs (2,721.6kg) Gross: 9,300 lbs (4,218.5kg) Performance: Max speed: 225 mph (362km/h) Cruising speed: 129 mph (208km/h) Service ceiling: 24,900 ft (7,590m) Range: 1,250 miles (2,012km) Armament: None Thanks very much for stopping by. All the info above came from the sign in front of the aircraft pictured above. Only problem...ever try to cut and paste from a sign? LOL. Bill:)