Beechcraft T - 34 Mentor 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 the upgraded T - 34C Turbo - Mentor , powered by a turboprop engine . The T - 34 remains in service more than six decades after it was first designed . Design and development . 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 / SNJ Texan , then in use by all services of the U . S . military . 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 + 10 " g " and - 4 . 5 " g " , 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 . Following the prototype were three Model A45T aircraft , the first two with the same engine as the prototype and the third with a Continental E - 225 , which would 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 Model B45 aircraft for export . Production of the T - 34B for the United States Navy ( USN ) began in 1955 , this version featuring 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 . 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 ) , Japan ( 173 built by Fuji Heavy Industries ) , and Argentina ( 75 by FMA ) until 1958 . Beechcraft delivered the last Model B45s in 1959 . Total production of the Continental - engined versions in the US and abroad was 1 , 904 aircraft . Model 73 Jet Mentor . In 1955 Beechcraft developed a jet - engined derivative , again as a private venture , and again in the hope of winning a contract from the US military . The Model 73 Jet Mentor shared many components with the piston - engined aircraft ; major visual differences were the redesigned cockpit which was relocated further forward in the fuselage and the air intakes for the jet engine in the wing roots , supplying air to a single jet engine in the rear fuselage . The first flight of the Model 73 , registered N134B , was on 18 December 1955 . The Model 73 was evaluated by the USAF , which ordered the Cessna T - 37 , and the USN , which decided upon the Temco TT Pinto . The Model 73 was not put into production . The sole protoype is on display at the Kansas Aviation Museum . T - 34C Turbo - Mentor . After a production hiatus of almost 15 years , the T - 34C Turbo - Mentor powered by a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 A - 25 turboprop engine was developed in 1973 . Development proceeded at the behest of the USN , which supplied two T - 34Bs for conversion . After re - engining with the PT6 , the two aircraft were redesignated as YT - 34Cs , the first of these flying with turboprop power for the first time on 21 September 1973 . Mentor production restarted 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 hardpoint s . The last Turbo - Mentor rolled off the production line in 1990 . Since the late 1970s , T - 34Cs have been used by the Naval Air Training Command to train numerous Naval Aviator s and Naval Flight Officer s for the U . S . Navy , U . S . Marine Corps , U . S . Coast Guard , and numerous NATO and Allied nations . With over 35 years of service , the T - 34C is gradually being phased out of the U . S . Navy ' s inventory and will eventually be replaced by the T - 6 Texan II . Operational history . The first flight of the Model 45 was on 2 December 1948 , by Beechcraft test pilot Vern Carstens . In 1950 the USAF ordered three Model A45T test aircraft , which were given the military designation YT - 34 . A long competition followed to determine a new trainer , and in 1953 the Air Force put the Model 45 into service as the T - 34A Mentor , while the USN followed in May 1955 with the T - 34B . The US Air Force began to replace the T - 34A at the beginning of the 1960s , their role taken over by the propeller - driven T - 41 Mescalero and the T - 37 Tweet primary jet trainer . Many USAF T - 34A aircraft were turned over to the USAF Auxiliary , the Civil Air Patrol , for use as search aircraft . However , the T - 34 ' s low wing limited its utility in a search and rescue role , and maintenance issues , particularly expensive wing spar repairs that became apparent in the late 1990s , resulted in the T - 34As being withdrawn from CAP service beginning in 2003 . The U . S . Navy kept the T - 34B operational as a Naval Air Training Command initial primary trainer until the mid - 1970s and as a Navy Recruiting Command aircraft until the early 1990s when the last examples were retired as an economy move . Others continue to remain under U . S . Navy control as part of flying clubs at naval air stations and marine corps air stations . As of 2007 , Mentors are still used by several air forces and navies . From 1978 , the T - 34C Turbo - Mentor was the Argentine Naval Aviation basic trainer used by the 1st Naval Aviation Force ( Training ) , alongside 15 T - 34C - 1 light attack aircraft forming the Fourth Naval Air Attack Squadron . During the 1982 Falklands War , four T - 34C - 1s were deployed to Port Stanley on 25 April 1982 , primarily to be employed in a reconnaissance role . The main encounter with British forces occurred on 1 May 1982 when three Turbo - Mentors attacked a Royal Navy Westland Sea King helicopter in the area of Berkeley Sound but were intercepted by Royal Navy Sea Harrier s flown by Lt ' Soapy ' Watson and Lt Cdr ' Sharky ' Ward of 801 Naval Air Squadron flying from HMS Invincible , with one of the T - 34Cs being damaged by cannon fire from Ward ' s aircraft . The four T - 34C - 1 Turbo - Mentors continued to operate , flying a few reconnaissance missions , but were redeployed to Borbon Station where they were ultimately destroyed by the SAS Raid on Pebble Island on 15 May 1982 . Although all four hulks remained on the island for a considerable length of time , eventually , 0729 / ( 1 - A ) 411 was recovered on 10 June 1983 and stored for future display at the Fleet Air Arm Museum . In 2004 , due to a series of crashes involving in - flight structural failure during simulated combat flights , the entire US civilian fleet of T - 34A / Bs was grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration . The grounding has since been eased to a slate of restrictions on the permitted flight envelope . Via a series of Airworthiness Directives ( ADs ) established by or Alternate Methods of Compliance ( AMOCs ) negotiated with the FAA , including installation of certain , approved structural modifications to the wing spar and other repairs , the T - 34A and T - 34B fleet in 2011 has been restored to full flight status by FAA at the Mentor ' s originally designed limitations , provided each individual example is compliant with those ADs and AMOCs . The T - 34C is still used as a primary training aircraft for United States Navy and Marine Corps and Coast Guard student pilots , although it is currently being replaced by the T - 6 Texan II . Training Air Wing SIX at NAS Pensacola , Training Air Wing FIVE at NAS Whiting Field and Training Squadron TWENTY - SEVEN at NAS Corpus Christi have transitioned to the T - 6A and T - 6B models , respectively . Training Squadron TWENTY - EIGHT is the only remaining squadron flying the T - 34C with plans to begin transition in 2014 . NASA Dryden Flight Research Center has operated two T - 34C aircraft . The first was previously flown at the Glenn Research Center in Cleveland , Ohio , for propulsion experiments involving turboprop engines , and then came to Dryden as a chase aircraft in 1996 . That aircraft was returned to the US Navy in 2002 . Dryden obtained its second T - 34C in early 2005 from the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division ( NAWCAD ) at NAS Patuxent River , where it was due to be retired . At Dryden , the T - 34C is primarily used for chasing remotely piloted unmanned air vehicles which fly slower than NASA ' s F / A - 18 ' s mission support aircraft can fly . It is also used for required pilot proficiency flying . The United States Army received six ex - US Navy T - 34C , used as test platforms and chase plane s at Edwards Air Force Base and at Fort Bragg . The Mentor is the aircraft used by the Lima Lima Flight Team and Dragon Flight , both civilian demonstration teams . It is also used by aerobatic pilot Julie Clark , who flies her T - 34 " Free Spirit " ( registration N134JC ) at air shows .