Beechcraft 18 (N5552A)

Bug Smasher. P&W R-985 Wasp Junior, 450hp. 200kts.

We worked twin Beechs out of ORD, flying mail as Blackhawk Airways many years ago. Never saw 200 kts. out of any of them! Their usually filed TAS was 140 kts. Where we lived NW of the airport was just below the highest hill in the area. Many times two of them would fly out together at low altitude and it would sound like a WWII bomber--4 radials.

Ahh,yes,the Super Navy Bomber (SNB)

@lucius 140 seems low... I would say as far I remember... 150 to 160 kts.. But I agree it was n't a lightning..

1944 Beech C18S (Expeditor / AT-7 / AT-11 / C-45 / JRB / SNB)
its primary mission was to train aerial navigators, and bombardiers

I thought I recognized this type from the movie _It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World_; the kind Buddy Hackett's character ends up flying--through a billboard, no less.

Friend of mine flew one of these as a corporate aircraft in the early 60s. Described it as "a ground loop looking for a place to happen".