Originally built in 1943 by Beechcraft as an AT-7 Navigator trainer and sent to Hondo, TX where  it along with other AT-7’s would train over 14000 navigators. After the war “67212” was transferred to the US Navy. 67212 was rebuilt in the early 1950’s and re-designated as a SNB-5, which was a general transport configuration and the plane spent the next decade and a half with over a dozen different squadrons from the east coast to Japan!  Later in the 1960’s the plane was transferred to VT-10 in Pensacola, FL. Here it was used as a Naval Flight  Officer Trainer. NFO’s are any officer assigned to a flight crew other than a pilot. The aircraft would be here until 1972. Three years later in 1975 the plane was sent to the boneyard until it went to Mesa Falcon Field sometime in the 1980’s. The plane was stripped of almost all of its bits and pieces and set to be cut up for beer money. 

 

In the late 1990’s Robert Kropp rescued the plane and he spent the next 25 plus years scouring the country for beech bits and pieces. In August of 2023 Tom Saluzzo first laid eyes on the 67212 in Mesa by a set of crazy circumstances. After about 20 minutes of Saluzzo rubbing and loving on her, a handshake deal was made and we started planning her disassembly and transfer to Kingman.  

 

Currently we are working on recovering the flight controls and building dummy engines for the  plane. Ultimately she will be repainted in her VT-10 paint scheme and the cockpit will be  restored to its 1960’s configuration. The passenger area will feature a display showcasing ww2  navigator tools.