War-time expansion of Navy ferry squadrons and aircraft delivery units brought a need for small, reliable transports to carry ferry pilots to and from their home bases during World War II. One of these was the JRC-1, affectionately called the "Bamboo Bomber" by those who flew it. The Museum's JRC-1 aircraft is painted in the markings of a World War II era Navy instrument trainer with green engine cowlings and a green band around the fuselage. 

The JRC was a military version of the commercial Cessna T-50 light transport. The Cessna Airplane Company first produced the wood and tubular steel, fabric-covered T-50 in 1939 for the civilian market, as a lightweight and low-cost twin for personal use where larger aircraft such as the Beech 18 would be too expensive. A low-wing cantilever monoplane, it featured retractable main landing gear and wing trailing edge flaps, both electrically actuated. The wing structure was built up of laminated spruce spar beams with spruce and plywood ribs. The fixed tailwheel is non-steerable and full-swivelling. The prototype T-50 made its maiden flight on 26 March 1939.

In 1940, the United States Army Air Corps ordered them under the designation AT-8 as multi-engine advanced trainers.  Thirty-three AT-8s were built for the U.S. Army Air Corps, and production continued under the designation AT-17 reflecting a change in equipment and engine types. In 1942, the U.S Army Air Force adopted the Bobcat as a light personnel transport and those delivered after January 1, 1943 were designated UC-78s. By the end of World War II, Cessna had produced more than 4,600 Bobcats for the U.S. military, 67 of which were transferred to the United States Navy as JRC-1s.