The Beechcraft AT-10 Wichita is an American

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

trainer built for the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

(USAAF) by

Beechcraft Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and Military aircraft, military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacture ...

. It was used to train pilots for multi-engined aircraft such as bombers.

Development

Beechcraft began designing the Model 25 early in 1940 in response to the requirement of the then-named

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

(USAAC) for a small twin-engined aircraft suitable for use in training student pilots in the handling of multi-engined retractable landing gear aircraft. As there were concerns at the time about a future possible shortage of

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

, part of the requirement was that the aircraft be built of "non-strategic" materials. Beechcraft met this requirement by designing the aircraft to be built primarily from wood. The Model 25 prototype was given to the USAAC for evaluation, but it was destroyed in a crash on 5 May 1941. The following day Beechcraft began work on the Model 26, which was soon ready, making its first flight on 19 July the same year. The type was accepted and deliveries began to the USAAF under the designation AT-10 in February 1942 at a time when US military fortunes were at their nadir. The type was named "Wichita" after

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

, the location of the Beechcraft factory. By the end of 1942, 748 had been delivered and were playing a part in training crews for the vast fleets of bomber and transport aircraft that were pouring off factory production lines all over the United States. Beechcraft production terminated in 1943 after it had delivered 1,771 AT-10s.

Globe Aircraft A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but, unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe of ...

built another 600 before production finally ceased the following year.

Operators

; *

Surviving aircraft

* 41-27322 – AT-10 under restoration by AirCorps Aviation for the Cadet Air Corps Museum. * 42-35143 – AT-10 on static display at the

National Museum of the United States Air Force The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

Specifications

Beechcraft AT-10 Wichita 3-view line drawing

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Donald, David (editor.) ''American Warplanes of World War II''. London:Aerospace Publishing, 1995. . * * Pelletier, A. J. ''Beech Aircraft and their Predecessors''. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press, 1995. . * Phillips, Edward H., ''Beechcraft - Pursuit of Perfection, A History of Beechcraft Airplanes''. Eagan, Minnesota:Flying Books, 1992. . * Taylor, M. J. H. ed. ''Jane's American Fighting Aircraft of the 20th Century'' Mallard Press.

External links

Beech AT-10 Wichita – JSTOR
{{USAF trainer aircraft AT-10 1940s United States military trainer aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1941 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft with retractable conventional landing gear