By: Norm Goyer
The Beechcraft Model 45 was used by both the Air Force and the Navy for primary flight training for many decades.
My thanks to Wikipedia and Beechcraft publications for technical information. NG
The T-34 was the brainchild of Walter Beech, who developed it as the Beechcraft Model 45 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/NJ Texan, then in use by all services of the U.S. military. The T-34 won a competition which included a Fairchild T-6 look-alike and a Temco modified tandem Swift. The T-34 was the only one which met the specifications of the military bid instructions which included tricycle gear and small engine.
The last T-34 produced by Beechcraft was the T-34-C Mentor with a P & W PT-6 propjet engine. These aircraft are slowly being replaced with the new Beechcraft Texan II propjet trainer.
Three initial design concepts were developed for the Model 45, including one with 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 (featuring a relatively large unswept vertical fin that would find its way onto the Travel Air twin-engine civil aircraft almost ten years later). The Bonanza’s fuselage with four-passenger cabin was replaced with a narrower fuselage incorporating a two-seater tandem cockpit and bubble canopy,which provided greater visibility for the trainee pilot and flight instructor. Structurally, the Model 45 was much stronger than the Bonanza, being designed for +10g and -4.5g, while the Continental E-185 engine of 185 horsepower (hp) at takeoff (less than a third of the power of the T-6′s engine) was the same as that fitted to contemporary Bonanzas.
Thousands of air show spectators have seen Julie Clark's exciting aerobatic routine with her T-34 "Free Spirit" performed and choreographed to music.
Production of the T-34B for the United States Navy (USN) began in 1955. The new Mentor featured a number of changes reflecting the different requirements of the two services. The T-34B had only differential braking for steering control on the ground instead of nosewheel steering, additional wing dihedral and, to cater for the different heights of pilots, adjustable rudder pedals instead of the moveable seats of the T-34A.[1] T-34A production was completed in 1956, with T-34Bs being built until October 1957 and licensed B45 versions built in Canada (125 manufactured by Canadian Car and Foundry)
In 1973,fifteen years after the T-34 production ended, the T-34C Turbo-Mentor powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-25 turboprop engine was developed. Development proceeded at the request of the USN, which supplied two T-34Bs for conversion. After installing a P & W turboprop, PT-6, the two aircraft were redesignated as YT-34Cs; they first flew in September of 1973. Mentor production re-started in 1975 for deliveries of T-34Cs to the USN and of the T-34C-1 armed version for export customers in 1977, this version featuring four underwing hardpoints. The last Turbo-Mentor rolled off the production line in 1990. In 2004, due to a series of crashes involving in-flight structural failure during simulated combat flights, the entire US civilian fleet of T-34s was grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration. The grounding has since been lifted but there are severe restrictions on the permitted flight envelope.
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 Texan II but is still the primary aircraft at NAS Corpus Christi and NAS Whiting Field. NAS Pensacola has already completed the transition to the Texan II. The first new T-6s arrived at Whiting Field during the summer of 2009.
Specifications:
- Crew: Two
- Length: 28 ft 8½ in
- Wingspan: 33 ft 3⅞ in
- Height: 9 ft 7 in
- Wing area: 179.6 ft²
- Empty weight: 2,960 lb
- Max takeoff weight: 4,300 lb (T-34C-1 weapons trainer – 5,500 lb
- Powerplant: Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-25 turboprop, 715 shp derated to 400 shp
Performance
- Never exceed speed: 280 knots, 322 mph (IAS)
- Cruise speed: 214 knot, 246 mph max cruise at 17,000 ft
- Stall speed: 53 knots 61 mph, flaps down, power off
- Range: 708 nmi, 814 mi at 180 knots, 207 mph and 20,000 ft
- Service ceiling: 30,000 ft