Back بيتشكرافت موديل 18 Arabic Beechcraft Model 18 Catalan Beechcraft Model 18 Czech Beechcraft Model 18 German Beechcraft Modelo 18 Spanish Beechcraft Model 18 French Beechcraft Model 18 Galician Beechcraft 18 Italian ビーチクラフト モデル 18 Japanese Beechcraft Model 18 Dutch

Beechcraft Model 18

Model 18
A Model 18 over Little Gransden Airfield in 2019
Role Trainer, transport aircraft and utility aircraft
National origin United States
Manufacturer Beech Aircraft Corporation
First flight January 15, 1937
Introduction 1937
Primary users United States Army Air Forces
United States Navy
Royal Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
Produced 1937–1970
Number built 9,000+

The Beechcraft Model 18 (or "Twin Beech", as it is also known) is a 6- to 11-seat,[1] twin-engined, low-wing, tailwheel light aircraft manufactured by the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. Continuously produced from 1937 to November 1969 (over 32 years, a world record at the time), over 9,000 were built, making it one of the world's most widely used light aircraft. Sold worldwide as a civilian executive, utility, cargo aircraft, and passenger airliner on tailwheels, nosewheels, skis, or floats, it was also used as a military aircraft.[2][3][4]

During and after World War II, over 4,500 Beech 18s were used in military service—as light transport, light bomber (for China), aircrew trainer (for bombing, navigation, and gunnery), photo-reconnaissance, and "mother ship" for target drones—including United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) C-45 Expeditor, AT-7 Navigator, and AT-11 Kansan; and United States Navy (USN) UC-45J Navigator, SNB-1 Kansan, and others. In World War II, over 90% of USAAF bombardiers and navigators trained in these aircraft.[2][3][5]

In the early postwar era, the Beech 18 was the pre-eminent "business aircraft" and "feeder airliner". Besides carrying passengers, its civilian uses have included aerial spraying, sterile insect release, fish stocking, dry-ice cloud seeding, aerial firefighting, air-mail delivery, ambulance service, numerous movie productions, skydiving, freight, weapon- and drug-smuggling, engine testbed, skywriting, banner towing, and stunt aircraft. Many are privately owned, around the world, with 240 in the U.S. still on the FAA Aircraft Registry in August 2017.[2][4][6][7]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference TC710 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c "Beechcraft D18S Twin Beech." Archived June 30, 2016, at the Wayback Machine National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Retrieved: December 17, 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Fact Sheet: Beech C-45H Expeditor." National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio. Retrieved: August 5, 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Twin Beech: The 1930s airplane that set Beech Aircraft Corporation on a course towards 50 years of success" Flying Magazine, February 1982, pp. 26-30, Retrieved: August 5, 2017
  5. ^ "Fact Sheet: Beech AT-11 Kansan." National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio. Retrieved: August 5, 2017.
  6. ^ Bauschspies, James S. and William E. Simpson, "Research and Technology Program Perspectives for General Aviation and Commuter Aircraft", NASA Contract NASW-3554 for NASA, Sept. 1982, N83-17454#. Retrieved: Dec. 18, 2014. (In particular, see: Table 2.4 "COMMUTER CARGO FLEET IN 1981 - TOP TEN AIRCRAFT MODELS - NUMBER IN FLEET," which notes Beech 18 units are more than the next two aircraft combined (Convair 500/680 and Douglas DC-3), and more than the next three general aviation aircraft combined.
  7. ^ "Beech 18" FAA Aircraft Registry. Archived July 3, 2018, at the Wayback Machine Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved: August 5, 2017.

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