Beech SNB-5 Navigator                                      67220

                                  

                                       Nice Beech Aircraft Corporation study of a military Beech 18, this time a Navy one*.  The US Navy
                                       and US Marine Corps used the Model 18 extensively, some 1,500 examples winding up with Bureau
                                       numbers.  In 1952 a number of SNB-2s were re-manufactured to zero-time condition as SNB-5s,
                                       and this was one of them.  Later, in 1962 with the introduction of the tri-service designation scheme,
                                       these aircraft became TC-45Js (or RC-45Js if they were of the reconnaissance persuasion).
                                       *  As opposed to the above 'staged' shot, below is a photo of a 'working' SNB.   This one was
                                       operated by the U.S. Naval Attaché - American Embassy - Australia - New Zealand in the early
                                       1950s, and is probably an SNB-2   .   The photo, from the Ellis Trautman collection, was taken at
                                        Forrest, WA which is on the Nullabor Plain about half way from Adelaide to Perth.         Possibly
                                        refueling there on a trans-continental trip?     I can not, even on the original print, discern more than
                                        the first three digits of the BuAer No, which are '397--'.  Any clues, anyone?