Page 28 - July 2023

At the behest of the Navy, in 1972 Beech Aircraft Corporation engineers redesigned the T-34B to accept a PT6A-25 turbo- prop engine built by Pratt & Whitney Canada. Rated at 400 shaft horsepower, the engine breathed new life into the aging Mentor airframe. More than 300 of the more powerful Mentors were produced from 1975-1990. An export version designated T-34C-1 proved popular as basic trainers and light ground at- tack aircraft with air forces in Peru, Morocco, Argentina, Mexico and Ecuador. (Edward H. Phillips Collection)
the landings “washed out” the gear of some competing aircraft, the Mentor’s tricycle landing gear never failed under those severe conditions.
During the summer of 1954, the Navy announced that the Model 45 (company designation D45) had won the competition and would become the Naval Air Training Command’s primary trainer. Initial deliveries began in December. There were only a few distinctions between production Mentors for the Air Force and Mentors for the Navy. These included:
= A small, triangular fillet at the bottom of the rudder was deleted
= Provision was made for differential braking that allowed nose wheel steering for maneuvering on the ground (the T-43A featured a steerable nose wheel using the rudder pedals, much like that of the commercial Model 35).
= Rudder pedals were adjustable instead of adjusting the seat
= Wing dihedral was increased slightly
= The overall exterior paint scheme used a highly visible, bright yellow color that Navy officials believed would make the airplanes more visible in the air and around the training airfields.
Production of the T-34B began in October 1954 and continued unabated until October 1957, when the last 12 airplanes were delivered. During those three years,
26 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
JULY 2023