T-34C Turbo Mentor
ICAO T34TA turboprop trainer descended from a 1940s design, still flying with several navies. Live T-34C positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30sAirframe
- Manufacturer
- Beechcraft
- Role
- Primary flight training
- Class
- L1T — Landplane, 1 turboprop engine
- Crew
- 2
- First flight
- 21 September 1973
- In service
- 1977
Operators airborne
About the T-34C Turbo Mentor
The T-34 began life as a Beechcraft Bonanza with the cabin replaced by two seats in tandem, and the turboprop-powered T-34C carried that lineage into the 1970s. The US Navy used it as its primary trainer for decades before the T-6 took over.
A few remain in American service as range support and utility aircraft, and several other navies and air forces still fly it — Argentina, Morocco, Taiwan, Ecuador and others. Civilian examples are popular warbirds.
It shows up here in small numbers, usually on short local training or support sorties.
Callsign prefixes
- NAVY
- US Navy support flights
- MENTOR
- Occasionally used on training sorties
How to recognise it
- —A small low-wing single turboprop with two seats in tandem under a long canopy.
- —A three-bladed propeller and a slim, tapering fuselage.
- —Similar in outline to a T-6 Texan II but noticeably smaller and older-looking.
Common questions
+ Is the T-34 related to the Beechcraft Bonanza?
Directly. The original T-34 Mentor used the Bonanza's wing and tail with a new fuselage carrying two tandem seats. The T-34C added a turboprop.
+ Does the US Navy still fly it?
Only in small numbers for support and range work. The T-6B Texan II replaced it as the primary trainer.
+ Who else flies the T-34C?
Argentina, Morocco, Taiwan, Ecuador and others, plus a large civil warbird population, some of which appears on the feed.