Beechcraft T-34 Mentor

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The Beechcraft T-34 Mentor is a single, single engined, American-engined military engine derived from Beechcraft Model 35 Bonanza. The previous version of the T-34, dating from the late 1940s to the 1950s, was piston-engined. This was eventually replaced by an upgraded T-34C Turbo-Mentor , powered by a turboprop engine. The T-34 continued to operate more than six decades after it was first designed.

Video Beechcraft T-34 Mentor

Design and development

The T-34 was the idea of â€‹â€‹Walter Beech, who developed it as a Beechcraft Model 45 private business at a time when there was no defense budget for the new coach model. Beech hopes to sell it as an economical alternative to T-6/SNJ Texan North America, which is then used by all US military services.

Three initial design concepts were developed for Model 45, including one with Bonanza V-tail signatures, but the final designs that emerged in 1948 incorporated conventional tail control surfaces for more conservative military interests (featuring relatively unbroken vertical fins that would find its course to the Air Air Travel civil aircraft nearly ten years later). The Bonanza's four-passenger cabin body is replaced with a narrow body equipped with a two-seat tandem cockpit and bubble canopy, which provides greater visibility for training pilots and flight instructors. Structurally, the Model 45 is much stronger than the Bonanza, designed for 10 g and -4.5 g , while the E-185 185 horsepower Continental engine (hp) take off (less than a third of T-6 engine power) equal to those mounted on the contemporary Bonanzas.

After the prototype is the three A45T Model aircraft, the first two with the same machine as the prototype and the third with Continental E-225, which will prove to be close to the production version. Production did not begin until 1953, when Beechcraft began delivering T-34As to the United States Air Force (USAF) and similar aircraft Model B45 for export. Production of T-34B for US Navy (USN) began in 1955, this version shows a number of changes reflecting the different requirements of the two services. The T-34B has only a differential braking for steering control on the ground instead of the nosewheel steering wheel, additional dihedral wings and, to meet different pilot altitudes, the steering pedal that can be set in place of the moving seat of the T-34A. T-34A production was completed in 1956, with T-34B being built until October 1957 and licensed version B45 built in Canada (125 produced by Canadian Car and Foundry), Japan (173 built by Fuji Heavy Industries), and Argentina (75 by FMA) until 1958. Beechcraft sent the last Model B45s in 1959. The total production of the Continental-engined version in the US and abroad was 1,904 aircraft.

Model 73 Jet Mentor

In 1955 Beechcraft developed a jet-engined derivative, once again as a private venture, and again in the hope of winning a contract from the US military. The Model 73 Jet Mentor shares many components with piston-engined planes; the main visual difference is the redesigned cockpit that is relocated further forward in the fuselage and the air intake to the jet engine at the wing roots, supplying air to a single JJ 920 lbf (4.1Ãƒ, kN) jet engine at the rear of the aircraft. The first flight of Model 73, registered N134B, was on December 18, 1955. Model 73 was evaluated by the USAF, which ordered Cessna T-37, and USN, which decided on Temco TT Pinto. After initial testing at the Naval Air Test Center at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, the Navy tested the feasibility of using Pinto TT as a jet-powered trainer for major aviation training in 1959, but stopped the use of the aircraft in December 1960 and dumped all samples, back to T -34B Piston-powered Mentor and T-28 Trojan North America for major flight training requirements. The Beechcraft 73 model was not put into production and a single prototype was shown at the Kansas Aviation Museum.

T-34C Turbo-Mentor

After nearly 15 years of production hiatus, T-34C Turbo-Mentor is supported by Pratt & amp; Whitney Canada PT6A-25 turboprop engine was developed in 1973. Development was continued on USN orders, which supplied two T-34Bs for conversion. After re-processing with PT6, both aircraft were redesigned as YT-34Cs , first flown with turboprop power for the first time on 21 September 1973. Mentor production resumed in 1975 for delivery of T -34Cs to USN and an armed T-34C-1 version for export customers in 1977, this version featured four underawing hooks. The last Turbo-Mentor slid off the production line in 1990.

Since the late 1970s, the T-34C has been used by Navy Training Command to train many Navy Staff and Naval Aviation Officers for the US Navy, US Marine Corps, US Coast Guard, and NATO and Allied countries. With over 35 years of service, the T-34C has been completely replaced by the T-6 Texan II.

Maps Beechcraft T-34 Mentor

Operational history

AS. Air Force and Civil Air Patrol

The first flight of the Model 45 was on December 2, 1948, by Beechcraft Vern Carstens test pilot. In 1950, the USAF ordered three test aircraft Model A45T , labeled YT-34 military. A long competition was followed to determine a new coach, and in 1953 the Air Force put Model 45 into service as a T-34A Mentor, while USN was followed in May 1955 with T-34B.

After extensive testing, the USAF ordered Mentor to production as a T-34A in early 1953. The first T-34A production was delivered to Edwards Air Force Base, California, in October 1953 for evaluation, and delivery to the Air Training Command (ATC) began in 1954 T-34A began service as the initial major aviation coach of the USAF at a "contract" pilot training air base throughout the southern United States, replacing the remaining American Texan AT-6 trainers. Following training at T-34A, USAF training participants will advance to T-28A Trojan North America for mid-level training.

The Mentor T-34A remained the standard USAF master trainer until the introduction of the Cessna T-37 Tweet jet trainer in the late 1950s, replacing the T-34A and T-28A. This also coincides with the ATC implementation of the Pilot Training Syllabus (UPT) at various air force stations in the United States under the ATC submission and the suspension and closure of the pilot contract air training base. When they were replaced by the T-37, many T-34As were submitted to USAF aero clubs at air force base in the United States and USAF airbase abroad. Overall, USAF acquired 450 T-34As.

When the US Air Force replaced the last T-34A in the early 1960s, their roles were taken over by T-41 Mescalero controlled by propellers and T-37 Tweet primary jet trainers in the UPT, the T-34As were not allocated to club- USAF aero club or flagged for sale or transfer of foreign military submitted to US Air Force, Civil Air Base, to be used as a search plane. However, the low-wing T-34A limits its usefulness in air search and rescue roles, and maintenance issues, especially the expensive wing improvements that became apparent in the late 1990s, resulted in the latter of the USAF T-34As being withdrawn from the CAP Service in 2003.

AS. Navy and US Marine Corps

The US Navy retained T-34B operations as the Navy Main Trainer of the primary trainers training at the former Saufley Field Naval Air Station, Florida until the mid-1970s and as a Navy Command aircraft until the early 1990s when the last example was retired as an economic movement. The others continue to be under the control of the US Navy as part of the flying clubs at naval air stations and marine corps air stations.

Beginning in 1975, Turbomentor T-34C-powered turbines were introduced as the new Navy's flagship aviation trainer for Marine Student Sailors, and began replacing North American T-28 Trojans by training air wing at NAS Whiting Field, Florida and NAS Corpus Christi, Texas. In the mid-1980s, he also began service as a basic trainer for the Student Navy Student Sailors at NAS Pensacola, Florida

The T-34C is no longer used as a major training aircraft for the US Navy, US Marine Corps and US Naval Sailors. Navy Sailors Trainers and various NATO/Allied/Coalition student pilots under the supervision of the US Navy. It has been replaced by the T-6 Texan II. The TWENTY-EIGHT Squadron Training at the NAS Corpus Christi Water Wing Training FOUR recently retired T-34C as a Navy Primary Training Aircraft according to the Naval Training Chief of Flight (CNATRA) PAO, joined the SIX Air Wing Training at NAS Pensacola, Training Air Wing FIVE at NAS Whiting Field and Training Air Wing FOUR Training Squadron TWENTY-SEVEN at NAS Corpus Christi has switched to T-6A and T-6B models.

Some other T-34Cs also operate with the Naval Air Test Center at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland and as an airborne reconnaissance aircraft with F/A-18 Fleet Replacement Squadrons (FRS) and Strike Fighter Weapons and Tactics Schools at NAS Oceana, Virginia; NAS Lemoore, California; and MCAS Miramar, California; and Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC) in NAS Fallon, Nevada.

AS. Army

The United States Army received six former US. Navy T-34C, is used as a test platform and chase aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, California and Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

NASA

NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center (formerly Dryden Flight Research Center) in Edwards, California has operated two T-34C aircraft. The first aircraft was previously flown at Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, where it was used for propulsion experiments involving turboprop engines. In 1996 this plane moved Dryden as a pursuit aircraft. The aircraft was returned to the US Navy in 2002. The second T-34C was obtained in early 2005 from the Air Force Air Force Airborne Division (NAWCAD) on the NAS Patuxent River, where it will be retired. At Armstrong, the T-34C is primarily used to pursue unmanned long-range unmanned aerial vehicles that fly more slowly than NASA's flying F/A-18 mission aircraft. As a NASA-backed mission aircraft, the rear seats will be occupied by photographers or flight test engineers during the research missions. This is also used for the pilot's skill as needed.

Non-US. military service

In 2007, Mentor was still used by several air and naval forces.

From 1978, the T-34C Turbo-Mentor was the Argentine navy's basic trainer used by the Navy's First Flight (Training), along with 15 T-34C-1 light attack aircraft that formed the Fourth Navy Attack Squadron. During the Falklands War of 1982, four T-34C-1s were deployed to Port Stanley on 25 April 1982, primarily for use in surveillance roles. The main meeting with British troops occurred on 1 May 1982 when three Turbo-Mentors attacked the Royal Navy Westland Sea King helicopter in the Berkeley Sound area but were intercepted by Royal Navy Sea Harriers flown by Lt 'Soapy' Watson and Lt Cdr 'Sharky' Bangsal 801 Squadron Air Air Force flew from HMS Invincible, with one T-34C destroyed by gunfire from a Ward plane. The four Turbo-Mentors T-34C-1 continued to operate, flying several surveillance missions, but were reassigned to Borbon Station where they were eventually destroyed by SAS Raid in Pebble Island on May 15, 1982. Although all four hulks remained on the island for a time long enough, finally, 0729/(1-A) 411 was discovered on June 10, 1983 and stored for display at the Arm Arm Air Arm Museum.

Civil use

In 2004, due to a series of accidents involving structural failures in flight during a combat flight simulation, the entire US civilian fleet of T-34A/B was grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration. The cornerstone has since been reduced to slate restrictions on allowed flight envelopes. Through a series of Airworthiness Directives (AD) defined by the Alternative Compliance Method (AMOCs) negotiated with the FAA, including the installation of certain structural modifications approved for wing spars and other improvements, the T-34A and T-34B fleets in 2011 have been restored to full flight status by the FAA on the limits originally designed by Mentor, provided that each individual instance corresponds to the AD and the AMOC.

Mentor is the aircraft used by the Five Fly Flight Team and Dragon Flight, both of which are civilian demonstration teams. It is also used by aerobatic pilot Julie Clark, who flew the T-34 "Free Spirit" (registration N134JC) at an air show.

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Variant

YT-34: Prototype, three built.
T-34A: US Air Force Coach. Replaced by Cessna T-37 circa 1960 (450 built).
T-34B: US Navy Coach. Used as coach until 1976, when VT-1 and VT-5 were disabled. Replaced by T-34C (423 built by Beechcraft). T-34B was flown by a pilot assigned to the US Navy Command until the mid-1990s.
YT-34C: Two T-34Bs are equipped with turboprop engines, and are used as T-34C prototypes.
T-34C Turbo-Mentor: Two-seat main trainer, equipped with turboprop engine.
T-34C-1: Comes with hooks for training or light strikes, capable of carrying 1,200 pounds (540 kg) of weapons on four underground poles. Such weapons could include flares, incendiary bombs, rockets or gun bags, and antitank missiles. Many are exported.
Turbo-Mentor 34C: Civil Version
Allison Turbine Mentor: The T-34 Mentor surplus conversion will be supported by the Allison Model 250 turboprop engine.

160945 - USA - Marine Corps Beechcraft T-34C Mentor at Boise ...

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Operator

Military operators

Ãƒ, Algeria
Argentina

Argentine Navy Flight - T-34C

Bolivia

Bolivia Air Force - Received 11 T-34A and Bs from Uruguay in 2000.

Chile

Chilean Air Force
Chilean Navy

Colombian

Beechcraft T-34 Mentor

Jumat, 15 Juni 2018

Beechcraft T-34 Mentor

Video Beechcraft T-34 Mentor