Page 30 - July 2023

“... the T-34B taught fledgling naval aviators better and more quickly while drastically reducing operating costs.”
demonstration flights, it failed to win any orders from military forces.
As for the Navy’s fleet of Mentors, they soldiered on faithfully for more than 35 years until 1975 when deliveries began of the much improved T34C. In 1973, the Navy awarded Beech Aircraft a contract to develop a turboprop version of the T-34B, and the first of two YT- 34C prototypes flew in 1974. Beech engineers modified the T-34B airframe to accept a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-25 turboprop engine rated at 400 shaft horsepower. The engine and other systems upgrades would extend the life of the venerable Mentor for another 25 years until being replaced by the Beechcraft T-6A “Texan II” – another PT6A-powered airplane that is currently serving both the U.S. Air Force and Navy as a basic trainer. The Navy accepted 18 T-34C trainers in 1975, to be followed during the next seven years by more than 330 airplanes. A final batch of 19 trainers were delivered in 1989.
The T34C had a maximum speed of 246 mph and possessed a service ceiling of more than 30,000 feet. It featured a wingspan of 33 feet,4 inches and a fuselage length of 28 feet 8.5 inches. In addition to the U.S. Air Force and Navy, the U.S. Army took delivery of six T-34C trainers in 1987 from Navy inventory. Three aircraft replaced the aging North American T-28 “Trojan” with their static, air-cooled radial engines that had been flown by the Army Aviation Engineering Flight Activity based at Edwards AFB, California. Another three were operated by the Army Airborne Special Operations Test Board located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.7
The factory also built an export version of the T-34C known as the T-34C-1, powered by a 550-shp PT6A engine. It was intended primarily as a basic trainer but
could be equipped to operate as a light attack aircraft. The chief modification centered on four hard points under the wings that could accommodate up to 1,200 pounds of ordinance. In the late 1970s, the Ecuadorian Air Force took delivery of 14 airplanes and Peru, Morocco, Argentina and Indonesia also ordered the T-34C-1.
Commercial and export versions of the Mentor received the company designation Model B45. Per factory records, 85 were delivered in 1953-1954, 47 in 1954-1955 and 21 in 1955-1956. Another 45 were delivered in 1956-1957 followed by 29 in 1957-1958 and 91 in 1958-1959 when production was terminated. In 1953, Chile ordered more than $1 million-worth of T-34A trainers after the Beechcraft proved superior to American, British and French competitors. Chile eventually operated a fleet of 65 Mentors. Japan soon followed by obtaining a license for Fuji Heavy Industries to build the T-34A and 137 aircraft were completed. Other armed forces that flew the T-34A include the Mexican Navy and the Venezuelan Air Force. The first sale of Mentors for civilian use occurred in 1958 when the International Training center for Civil Aviation in Mexico bought four airplanes to train pilots.
The exact number of Beechcraft Mentors being flown by civilian pilots worldwide is unknown, but a reasonable estimate is 100-150. The airplane is prized by sport pilots for its robust airframe and aerobatic capabilities, and some airplanes have been painted in U.S. Air Force and Navy color schemes that replicate the Mentor in service as a “warbird.” KA
Notes:
1. Phillips, Edward H.: “Pursuit of Perfection: A History of Beechcraft
Airplanes;” Flying Books, Eagan, Minnesota, 1992.
2. McDaniel, Willian H: “The History of Beech;” McCormick-Armstrong
Co., Inc. Wichita, Kansas, 1971. 3. Ibid
4. Ibid
5. Ibid
6. Ibid
7. Harding, Stephen; “U.S. Army Aircraft Since 1947”: Specialty Press, Stillwater, Minnesota. 1990.
Ed Phillips, now retired and living in the South, has researched and written eight books on the unique and rich aviation history that belongs to Wichita, Kansas. His writings have focused on the evolution of the airplanes, companies and people that have made Wichita the “Air Capital of the World” for more than 80 years.
28 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
JULY 2023