Cessna introduced the Model T-50 twin engine, five-seat transport to the civil market in 1939. A year later the Army Air Force ordered a small number for testing as trainers for multi-engine pilots and designated them AT-8 and with a different engine as AT-17. The same year it was selected as a trainer for the Royal Canadian Air Force and named Crane. In 1942, the Army selected the T-50 for use as a light transport with the designation UC-78 while the Navy operated them as the JRC-1. The name Bobcat was selected in a contest run by Cessna in their factory while in Army service it got the nickname “Bamboo Bomber” for its wooden construction. Cessna built a total of 5,399 aircraft of the type for civil and military use.
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