Beech T-34B Mentor

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Beech T-34B Mentor
Beech T-34B Mentor

The Beech Company wanted to expand its military contracts after World War II, and began working on a primary trainer to replace the North American T-6 Texan. The Model 45 used the successful Bonanza as a base design, though the eventual aircraft bore only superficial resemblance to the Bonanza. It incorporated a large single-surface tail, student and instructor sitting tandem under a canopy with good visibility, and a stronger airframe for aerobatics. The USAF liked what it saw and put the Model 45 into production as the T-34A Mentor in 1953, followed by the similar T-45B for the US Navy.

The Mentor proved to be a superb primary trainer, preparing pilots for larger and faster machines. Though the USAF only used it for a short time before going to an all-jet syllabus, their T-34As were passed to Civil Air Patrol units. The Navy's T-34Bs would remain in service much longer, until the mid-1990s. So reliable and forgiving was the aircraft that it would be adopted by many Western and allied nations; Canada, Japan, and Argentina would place it in license production. Beech would subsequently replace the T-34A/B's piston engine with a turboprop, creating the T-34C TurboMentor in 1973. The T-34C would largely replace the T-34B and be exported not only as a trainer, but also as a light attack aircraft. A few T-34As remain in service as trainers, though the T-34C is still commonplace. Retired from Civil Air Patrol units in the early 2000s, dozens of T-34As and Bs have been picked up by warbird collectors.

This T-34B is Bureau Number 140805. Other than that, nothing is known about this aircraft's service history, which is not unusual for trainers. It was delivered in 1956 and probably retired sometime in the 1990s, and passed to the Lemoore Flying Club in California. By 2002, it was acquired by the Estrella Warbirds Museum, but remained flyable; it was involved in a fuel exhaustion accident, which damaged the aircraft, but luckily the pilot was unhurt. It was repaired and remains part of the museum's collection, and may still be airworthy. 140805 wears the overall yellow scheme used by Navy trainers in the 1940s and 1950s.

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Taken on: June 10, 2023
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Sets appears in:   • US Navy and Marine Corps Aircraft    • Aviation Photography   
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