The AT-11 was the standard World War II bombing trainer; nearly 90 percent of the more than 45,000 AAF bombardiers trained in AT-11s. Like the C-45 transport and the AT-7 navigation trainer, the Kansan was a military version of the Beechcraft Model 18 commercial transport. Modifications included a transparent nose, a bomb bay, internal bomb racks and provisions for flexible guns for gunnery training.

Student bombardiers normally dropped 100-pound sand-filled practice bombs. In 1943 the USAAF established a minimum proficiency standard of 22 percent hits on target for trainees. Combat training missions were flown taking continuous evasive action within a 10-mile radius of the target, and final target approaches had to be straight and level and no longer than 60 seconds. After Sept. 30, 1943, these missions were generally flown using the Norden Bombsight and the C-1 automatic pilot, with the aircraft being guided by the bombardier student during the bombing run.

The AT-11 on display is one of 1,582 ordered by the AAF between 1941 and 1945, 36 of which were modified as AT-11A navigation trainers. It was donated to the museum by the Abrams Aerial Survey Corp., Lansing, Mich., in 1969, and is painted to represent a trainer in service during the autumn of 1943.

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SPECIFICATIONS:

Span: 47 ft. 7 3/4 in.

Length: 34 ft. 1 7/8 in.

Height: 9 ft. 7 3/4 in.

Weight: 9,300 lbs. maximum

Armament: Two .30-cal. machine guns when used as a gunnery trainer

Engine: Two Pratt & Whitney R-985 of 450 hp each

Cost: $67,000

PERFORMANCE:

Maximum speed: 215 mph

Cruising speed: 150 mph

Range: 745 miles

Service ceiling: 20,000 ft.