Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor

The Beechcraft C-45 Expeditor was the military version of the civilian Beech Model 18, a light twin-engine transport used widely by the U.S. Army Air Forces and Navy during World War II. Adopted in the early 1940s, it served as a personnel transport, light cargo carrier, navigation and bombing trainer, and aerial photography platform. Variants such as the AT-7, AT-11, and Navy SNB carried out much of the wartime training of bombardiers and navigators.

Rugged and economical, the type remained in U.S. military service into the 1960s and continued flying for decades afterward in civil hands. Thousands were built across the Model 18 family, making it one of the most produced light twins of its era and a familiar workhorse on airfields around the world.