Beech T-34C Turbo Mentor

TAW 1983

The Beechcraft T-34 Mentor is a propeller-driven, single-engined, military trainer aircraft derived from the Beechcraft Model 35 Bonanza. The earlier versions of the T-34, dating from around the late 1940s to the 1950s, were piston engined. These were eventually succeeded by an upgraded model powered by a turboprop engine. The T-34 remains in service more than five decades after it was first designed.The T-34 was the brainchild of Walter Beech, who developed it as a private venture at a time when there was no defense budget for a new trainer model. Beech hoped to sell it as an economical alternative to the North American T-6/SNJ Texan, then in use by all services of the U.S. military. Initial designs for the T-34 included the Bonanza's signature V-tail, but the final design that emerged in 1948 incorporated conventional tail control surfaces for the benefit of the more conservative military. The Bonanza's four-passenger cabin was replaced with a two-seater tandem cockpit and bubble canopy, which provided greater visibility for the trainee pilot and flight instructor. The first flight of the T-34 was on December 2, 1948, by Beechcraft test pilot Vern Carstens. Tthe United States Navy ordered her first aircrafts of this type in May 1955 with the T-34B. The US Navy kept the T-34B operational until the early 1970s. As of 2007, Mentors are still used in several Air Forces and Navies. The T-34A and T-34B used a conventional, piston driven engine while the T-34C Turbo Mentor is turboprop-powered. The T-34C is still used as the primary training aircraft for United States Navy and Marine Corps pilots. The T-34C is currently being replaced by the T-6 Texann II but is still the primary aircraft at NAS Corpus Christi and NAS Whiting Field NAS Pensacola has already completed the transition to the T-6 and the first T-6s are scheduled to arrive at Whiting Field in early 2007.

Crew: Two Length: 28 ft 6 in (8.75 m) Wingspan: 33 ft 4 in (10.60 m) Height: 9 ft 7 in (2.92 m) Wing area: 180 ft² (16.7 m²) Empty weight: 2,960 lb (1,342 kg) Max takeoff weight: 4,400 lb (1,950 kg) Powerplant: 1× Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-25 turboprop, 550 shp (410 kW) Maximum speed: 280 kt IAS (320 mph, 520 km/h) Range: 600 nm (690 mi, 1,110 km) Service ceiling: 25,000 ft (7,600 m) Rate ocf climb: 1,480 ft/min (7.5 m/s) g limit: 4.5 positive, 2.3 negative

USN 95 René Hieronymus Scale 1:72 Building time: approx. 21 hrs.