Page 28 - Volume 14 Number 7

Aircraft Company’s primary objective remained the “design and manufacture of high-performance aircraft.” By 1952 Beechcrafters were busy building not only the piston-powered T-34 Mentor primary trainer for the U.S. Air Force and the Navy but were also engaged in manufacturing fuel tanks for jet aircraft at facilities in Herrington, Kansas, that were leased to meet that demand.
In 1951, however, the Air Force had issued the company a highly lucrative contract to design and develop a pressurized, twin-engine trainer designated the T-36A. The airplane could also be operated as a transport and was to be powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 static, air-cooled radial engines. Plans called for a crew of one instructor and three students, or two crewmembers and as many as 12 passengers. Performance requirements called for a maximum speed of 350 mph at 30,000 feet.
It was estimated that production contracts for the T-36A would generate about $300 million annually and would have required a 200% increase in the workforce. As plans progressed 500 new employees were hired
26 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
JULY 2020