'Dewey's Ride' to Appear at World War II Training Command Exhibit



Pete and Dewie Quortrup’s award-winning Beechcraft SNB-5, Dewey’s Ride, will be featured in the World War II Training Command display area during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2006. The gleaming twin Beech will represent the advanced multi-engine trainers used by the U.S. Army Air Corp and Navy.

“We are thrilled to add Pete and Dewie’s SNB to the line up,” said Bill Fischer, EAA Warbirds of America executive director. “This aircraft won the Warbirds Best Transport award at AirVenture 2003. We also featured the airplane in the December 2004 issue of Warbirds magazine. It’s always been a real crowd pleaser.” Dewey’s Ride also received the People’s Choice award at the 2003 EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In.

The aircraft was delivered to Naval Air Station Jacksonville in 1942 as an SNB-1 bombing/gunnery trainer and it served the Navy a total of 27 years at various stations. Bomber and transport pilots, as well as navigators and bombardiers, used it as an advanced instrument and multi-engine trainer. Once their training was completed, cadets advanced to the aircraft they would take into war.

The Quortrups acquired Dewey’s Ride in 2001 and had the airplane restored to its original appearance by Stetson Aviation, Kenedy, Texas.

Beechcraft supplied the war effort with a variety of aircraft based on the model 18, including the SNB, AT-7, AT-11, and C-45. The company also built the AT-10 Wichita, which was made primarily out of wood to conserve scarce metals needed for combat aircraft. It is said that half of all bomber pilots trained in the Beech AT-10.

Cessna aircraft’s UC-78 Bobcat and the Curtiss AT-9, Jeep, were also used in the training of our WWII multi-engine pilots. The Beech AT-10 and the Curtiss AT-9 had little commercial value after the end of the war so few examples of these historic aircraft exist.

The WW-II Training Command Display will be open daily, July 24-30, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., just a few steps west of the Warbirds in Review area. Volunteers will be on hand to tell more about the aircraft and the pilots who flew them. Discover why certain aircraft were used, what the cadets learned, and how they trained. Volunteers will also direct visitors to other examples of trainer aircraft located a short walk away on the warbirds flight line. 

  EAA Aviation Center
  P.O. Box 3086
  Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086

www.warbirds-eaa.org
Phone: 920.426.4800
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