Admiral's 'Barge'

摘要

Set against an azure blue sky and solid carpet of white cloud, the sun accentuating its fine lines, it's easy to understand why the Beech Expediter was such a popular machine among pilots, passengers and groundcrew alike. Surely, if ever there was such a thing, this was the very epitome of a gentleman's VIP transport. During the course of World War Two, the RAP and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) took delivery of a number of Beech C-45s, designated as Expediter Ⅰ and Ⅱ in British service, under Lend-Lease terms from the USA. Powered by two 450hp (335kW) Pratt & Whitney Wasp R-985-AN-1 nine-cylinder radials, the six-seaters were used for communications work. The FAA was allocated 70 Expediters and they operated in the UK and as far afield as India. Such was their popularity that when most were due to return to the US at the end of the war, 25 were purchased with US dollars - a scarce and much-valued currency in 1945 - for continued use.