Cessna UC-78C Bobcat         N52199                                 (c/n  4115)

                                            

                                                 The Cessna T-50 light twin was developed in 1939 and was recognized by the military of both
                                                 the US and Canada to have the potential for being a good twin engine conversion machine. Some
                                                 550 were supplied to the Commonwealth Joint Air Training Plan being set up in Canada, and there
                                                 they were known as the Crane.      In the US, the trainer variant became the AT-17 and the light
                                                 transport was the UC-78.   Officially the type was known as the Bobcat, but most air force types
                                                 refer to it (somewhat affectionately) as the "Bamboo Bomber", although bamboo it was not.
                                                 (Maybe spruce or pine, but not bamboo).  The example above was one of 60 machines laid down
                                                 as AT-17Ds but re-designated UC-78C oin the production line and built to replace a group of 60
                                                 AT-17Cs for Canada, but taken over by the USAAF.  The 60 aircraft of this group all received
                                                 RAF serials (this one was to have been FJ604) but, in the event actually went to the USAAF under
                                                 a Reverse-Lend-Lease agreement.  My shot was taken at Fullerton Municipal Airport in 1961,
                                                 where it was owned by the J.E. Riley Company.