cap beechcraft t-34 story (1966)

8/8/2019 CAP Beechcraft T-34 Story (1966)

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We flyCAP's T-34 MentorThe entire rliEht ptogtam o, Amefica,sCivil Air Patrol got a tremendous boostthrough acquisition ot ttrese line craltBY Lf. COL. ALFRED H. TAX, CAP

"Lei's put flying back into the Civil Air Patroll"Piloting, of conlse, has alrvays been atr important func-tion of the Patrol, but this plea *'as for even greateremphasis on aerial participation for.CAP.So it rvas rvith that clalion call that USAF Col. Joe L.XIason, top man in CAP, led his Ellington (Tex) stafiinto action. Theit' aim: to transfer. 114 Beech-built sin-gle-engine 2-seat taudem t|ainer.s to the Civil Air Patrolfrom Air' !'orce surplus. These regular' A.F. omcers,along rvith civilian counterparts rvho serve as CAP'sNational Executive Committee, rvorked diligently to pro-cure the Mentors. bild-dogged the aircraft through spe-cial service and maintenance programs, thel sarv themdeliveled to various "Wings" (state gloups).Approximatel}' 80ii of the 52 Wings in the UnitedStates have had, or curl:eltly operate, one or more ofthese pl21nes. The tlemeldous boost in molale and thepleasure and plide that srrch aircraft create, not only forthose qualified to pilot it, bnt also among younger CAPmembers, is be1'ond measure. That repays hundreds ofCAP'ers of all rank, age, and experience, lvho labored toput these machines back onto active flying status.The T-34 Mentor rvas designed and constructed by theBeech Ailcraft Corporation to ser'\-e as a combinationplimai'1. and basic tlainer. lt became the first step inteaching Air Force men to fly, The craft incolporatedall the esseniial military cquipment to lead trainees fromintroductory first flight, to solo, to instru- (See pg. 8)6

Airto-alr photographs were made by Howard Levy from CAP L 16 pAIR PROGRESS


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Tax (front seat) and Lt. col. Les De clue (rear) fly N6089V above Long lsland shoreline. Plane was acquired in bjts and piec6s.SEPTE BER T966


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Wt ftY CAP'S T-34, Continuedment training, then on to aerobatics. From the T-34,the prop-trained pilot took his next step up the aero-nautical ladder (and dorvn the numerical scale) to theLnckhccd T-33 pL,r'c-jet 2-.eat rrainer.\\rhen the pilot-trainee climbed into a T-33.iet hefoltnd most of its controls and instruments just aboutlike g hat he had first started out \rith in the T-34. Andfor- a very good reason. The striking similariiy incockpit la]'olrt was part of a masier training plan toexpedite the ne$ pilot's transition to jets $ith a mini-mum of reorientation. In the T-33 and T-34, the sensa-tions of flying have a definite similar.ity. Althoughsome might find it hard to eqlrate a jet \lith a prop job,the AF's tlaining command and the people at tseechdid bring off an almost impossible task. It's a rvonder.the Mentor \rasn't designated T-331's since it handlesso much like the "33".Your T-34 (you luckJ' CAP Squadlon, 1'ou!) haseverything thc military wanted for its nolice pilot:single engine, tric]'cle landing gear, lorr lving, slidingcanopv over the flont and lear cockpits. Each cockpitseats one; both passengers shar.e a common gleen-house. Rcith cockpits ale fully instrumented in identi-cai fashion.Okay, let's get this bird airbor.ne. Aftei a carefulu'alk-aroLrnd and visual chcck (don't fo|get, r.errervedand gttaranteed as thel' may be, some of these T-34'scan be as much as li] yea|s old), $e step up onto thewing \\alk area along the fuselage's left side and climbinto ihe front olice. This plane is flolvn solo only fromthe front seat.Ever.r''thing is neat, compact aDd in apple pie militaryordel. Stalting from our left tle find in this ordel:trim tabs, thlottle ctuadrant. fuel selector knob. boostpump, ignition su itch, fla1i ancil gear. controls, and land-ing light s$'itches. )iext $e check across the instnr-ment panel, then to the light side for batter). switch,electric plimer, direct


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Ai Tax lfar lcli wnlks y.u around i!re l'1eni.rdLr i.q p.e f qnt r\r F ro,-r. t s i !' lr',o p'ra.dlifo and :oLohcl ;ni i.rs. Ccckp is f.reand aft .re -qirac .us pcrnr it fg pllotto qo ihror!h hls: rwoii rn q! t-' comfo:l:rb e": rr vc v cuici sr ourd :qs Not a CAPunlts $c;c rs foit!nale as thc NodicaslReqlon in hav .q so .n]ny nicrcslel menbe s'".d, r '.'" 1|e(A lpirotos by Howard Levy l

Nlel'tor- ,l"r:cloprllent lreJt p.tge9


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TEARN . . .Aircrqff Rodio lingo, for lf on hour!Any hour of the doy, Sftywoy VHt Converi-er3 give yo'J o direcr pipeline to your lo.ol


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list is a very impoltant feature;info in the tech manual helPs toyour flyilrg easier and a lotpleasant.During a letdown for landing Yourmus! be slowed to 96-kts be-lower the landing gear anduse 90-krs downwind, 80-on base leg, ?5-kts on final aP-Landing sleed is 60-kts. Youris easv to landi on final at aairspeed you have only to levelabove the runway about a footiwo and lhe crafr will settle gentlysoftly on its main gear' The nosebe held ofi the ground wilh-too much effort around 50-kts andthe ship slows down to some-40-kts.Fuel consumption is fairly economi_depending upon the type of fiyingdoing, of course. The engineburn as little as 9% gallons per(657 up to 7500-fl), or uP tolf'rll out and aerobatic).r['. "t'""ta bear in mind that this iscomplex type aircraft compared toaimilar sized civvie jobs with agear and ProP, therefore therequires a Pilot with somein handling retractable gear.controllable prop and radios.experience is not difficult to at-and an average pilot should beble ro pick up the necessary tech-iorres within 5 to 10 hours dual pro-iiin" ft" has been flving regularlyand r'eally applies himself Lo a thor-ough study of the tech manual andgets weil acquainted with the checklist.The T-34 N6089V we flew belongs

io the Northeasi Region Hq StafCAP lNasoau County. N.Y.r and is aflying testimonial to how CAP'erswork togethe! for the common cause'Col. Paut Halstead, the DePutY Com-mander, encountered the luselage inlhe salvage yard at an Air Force base.He found that this, together with apair of wings and seven boxes of mis-cellaneous T-34 odds and ends wereabout to be disposed of as surPlus.Paul got the parts earmarked for theNortheast Regio4, then had themflown into the Long Island Ailport atIslip, N.Y., via a USAF-ANG Fair-child C-119 Flying Box Car. The bodvand associated Parts were met bY adistinguished group of staff memberswho sweated everything onto a flatbed truck. Next stop for the motleycollection (pa*s, not peoplel) wasZahn's Airport in Amityville Thereeverything was stoled in a hangar be-longing to the Aircraftsmen repairservice. That outfit's generous owners,Paul Nyholm and Walter Sawatzky,were of considerable help during theyear that it took to reassernble 89V.Yup, homebuilders aren't the only air-craft con.tructors who have to earna living 9-to-5. Hence the 12 rnonthgestatiou period.Together with Col. Halstead, whoholds an A&P Mechanic rating and isa graduate aeronautical engineer, avery large amount of credit must goto Lt. Col. B. L. "Les" De Clue, an-other dedicated CAP member who be-

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tlE T0R, Continuedcame so engrossed in putting this T-34together that most of us wonderedhow he ever maintained his dentalpractice. Doc really became an ex-perts' expert on this palticular craft,spending some 500 hours of his sparetime working on it. Col. Edwin Lyons,CAP Commander of the NortheastRegion, assisted (he reconstructionplan through his interest and by au-thorizing the expenditure of severalthousand dollars. Many members do-nated time, energy and their ownmoney. Col. Halstead, fol instance, oneof the leading'angets" on the lebuild-ing program, paid for a major over-haul on the engine. Major Roy Arrotldonated Narco Mark 5 and Mark 6radio sets,Of such people is the Patrol com-posed. Thr,ough their cooperative ef-forts a valuable flying machine rvasr'ccovered flom the salvage pile andrestored to flying status. It now standsrcady to serve through the CAP'sSearch and Rescue work.

Science Foundation for Mccraw-HillNews Bureau, Washington, D.C. Sci-ence news for non-scientific audierrcesrequires special know-how. Do youwrite for radio, TV, magazines ornewspapers? Are you a publie rela-tions official for an industrial corpora-tion or government agency? A free-lance writer? A science editor for alaboratory or research center? Thishandbook will help you. Hardcover,183 pgs., refelences, index. $4.95; GuUPublishing Co. (Box 2608, Houston,Tex. ?7001).EX-RAF types who now pilot type-writers include Gavin Lyall. Hisfourrh book i' our and it's Srool;rgScri?rt, an adventure story. In allGav's books aviation has played apart. EX-RAF pilot Arthur Hailey,author of the successful I{olel, livesin California, where he is resparchinEhis npxt novel, ,4;r.purt. fL s aboutground aviation, control-tower life,airports, probably the birds and bees,toolTwo new reference books for scien-tists and engineers: Mccral!-Hil|Basic Bibliagraph! of Science anclT e c htto I o g y-1 00 -p ages wiih annotatedlistings of 8000 books in all scientificand technological Iields. Mcc-HBOSATgives title, author, publisher, date ofpubli.ation. plu. concise descriptionof the book, contents and Ieve\. Mc-G) qu-Hilt Moder Men ol Saience-a 600-page volume of lively, authorita-t ive a rt icles on 425 ou tst an d ingcontempolary scientists throughoutthe rvorld, includes ,15 (count 'eml)Nobel Prize rvinners. Each book,$19.50, McGr.arv-Hill Book Co.Hangar Flying (Box 195, Rantoul,Ill.) has collectors' items from thegolden age of the Air Corps, the1930's: Prelimi.tatA Flight Instruc-tions nLenudl lor Cloti:is Y1A-18 j.s a4-page Tech Order No. 01-258-1,dated June 21, 1937 with flight andoperating instructions and systemsdescriptions, No illustraiions. 40y'.Hanrlbook ol Instnlctions for P-p6A,thc Boeing pursuit airptane. A reprintof the main 40 pages from oriEinalU.S. Army Air Corps Tech Order No.01-20D of February 1, 1934, re.!,isedMay 1, 1935. Size 8%,,x 11,,; operat-ing and flight instructions, S systems,Jiagrams. jn(luding 'liquid oxygen '.tor breathir.g: (Holl bloodsrream:)Three halftone pictures of difierentvie$s. Each, 92.95; buy both andprice is $3.Latest Intetaxi@ ABC, a $,orld direc-tory of aviarion and astronaulics, has1400 pages, in.fo f|om 18S counlrieswith 68 classifications, 50,000 individ.ual addlesses. 37,000 personaliriesnamed "Who-is-Where,' section; g%,,x 12", indexed. Available from InteFavia's USA's rep or dir'ect lrom

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unquestionably had first deveioped theconcept of independent' ait opera-tions. (Baldwin, rhey decmed theireffort ( WW/l Blitz of Britain) notsubstantial, the end not justifying themeans. (The British, on the otherhanJ. nevpr lorgor the aiI raids: infact, memories r.emained clear.) Thus.the Cprman" built a diffelenr Lind ofair force for $rW/2, one rebuilt lvithno four-engined bombers and gearedprinarily to suppod ground forces.The British, with a I'bomber obses-sion," sought to buy time throughwhat was not altogethel rightly callecl"appeasemenl." Polil ical and Ds\cu-logi, al .horrsightednc.s of Alli.s andCermans alike relative to air powerare woven into this history, and fas,cinatingly documented. Those Ger.-man "Gianl 'bonrbers ol W\\-/1 whjnhhad a wing span only 3 fept less rharrtie B-29 Superfortress of WW/2Jropped 2200-poundp|s on London in1918.Sir John Slessor ends his afterrvord\\ith a po-er: Who can "at for cettainthat air powel alone rvould-or could-have ended WW/2 two or threeyears earlier?AERO ADDENDUM ... 1e06 Ed.itiott,Aerospace Fcrcls etld, Figttres. com-piled by rhe Aelo5pace Indu.rliesAssoc. of America, Inc.; published byAelo Publishers. Details the perfolm-anca of the aerospacp indusrr't dur-ing 19C5, Key elemenrs: .alesincleased to 920.9 billion; employ-nent up to 1,154,000; exports to post-lV\\'/2 high of 91.4?4 bittion; aircraftproduction highest since 194?, with anestimated 2;00 military and 12,54tcivil craf! delivered in 1965. Soft-cover,53/a" x 83/a", 140 pgs,, 93.For lou rvriters, Wr;ling Seie cr-\erus /or lhe Moss Medio by DavidWarren Burkett who covers National


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More Than l9OO Mentors Were Turned Out By BeechThe Beechcraft model 45-named Mentot aftet l;rletrusted servant of Greek mythology-ffrst flew as a ptoto-type in late 1948. Since that tirne the Mentor has sewedas a training airplane for thousands of United States AirForce and United States Naly pilots and continues in useat some military installations even today.Approximately 100 of the Wichita-built trainers arestill in operation at the PensacoLa Naval Air Station.The Mentor was designed and privately financed byBeechcraft as a primary and basic trainer for the militaryservices. And so well did it filt the design requirements thatover one thousand units were produced by Beechcraftfor domestic and expo sale. The airctaft was also pro-duced under license to Beech by Japanese, Canadian andArgentine ffrms.The Mentor, a single-engine, all-hetal two-place trainer,was built around the then-new Beechcraft Bonanza designto assure high performance while retaining economicaloperation and low fuel consumption.The prototype aircraft was test flown Decernber 2, 1948,by Vetn Cantens, now retired, who was then Beechcraft,schief test pilot. The prototype Model 45 was powered by aContinental E-185 engine. It had a cruise speed of 160-mphat 10,000 feet and a top speed of 176 mph. Service ceilingwas 18,000 feet and gross weight 2,650 pourrds.The Mentor was stressed for 10 positive and 4.5 negative"G's" and was fully aerobatic-a feature demonstrated inexhibitions at the Cleveland and Miami air races in 1949and 1950 by the noted aerobatic pilot Beverly E. ',Bevo',Howard. Betty Skelton also flew demonstration dights inthe early Mentor. Additional demonstrations were flown inthe United States and overseas by Beechcraft and guestmilitary pilots thlough 1949 and 1950, winning everyevaluation competition eotered.First production model of the Mentor was delivered tothe U.S. Air Force October 1953 at Edwards Air FolceBaee. There it underwent evaluation in training conditionssimilar to those it would encounter in actual use. At onetime during the evaluation, one Mento! waa flown 23 houreand 20 minutes continuously with only seven brief groundstops for refueling and crew change.In August 1950 two YT-34 Mentors were delivered toRandolph Field, Texas, to mark initial delivery of the air-craft to the USAF Air Training Command. The lateWalter H. Beech, founder of Beechcraft, was present at thecerenonies at Randolph. The aircraft were accepted byAir Material Command Major Clarence W. Brown. pro-duction of the Ait Force version, the T-34A, began theweek of October 1, 1953, while evaluation tests by theUnited States Navy got underway at Pen-6acola.In June 1953 a Chilean government conttact in excessof $1 million was announced. The Chilean vercion of theMentor-called the Model B45-difrered only in accessoryitems. The planes were flown from Wichita 6,000 miles tobases in Chile by Chitean pilots trained at the Beechcraftfactory. The Mentor also was sold to Argentina, Coturnbia,El Salvador, Mexico, Spain, Turkey and Venezuela for

training and, in some instances, for fighter aircraft aiLap-tation.November 1953 saw the signing of a license agreementbetween Fuji Healy Industries, Inc., Tokyo, for fiIst pro-duction oI the Mentor overseas. It was the first step of anymajor American aircraft manufacturer to aid Japan fol-lowing WW-2 in an attempt to establish defense forces forthe free world in the Far East. Japan production totaled137 units.T-M trainers for the R.C.A.F. were manufactured by theCanadian Car and Foundry Co., Ltd., Fort William, On-tario. The Argentine government also assembled the T-34trainer under an agreement with Beechcraft, becoming thethird foreign nation to hold a license for manufacture ofthe Mentor. A total of 75 Mentors were assembled inArgentina.According to Beechcralt records, few Mentors havefound their way into civilian ownership in the UnitedStates. However, some still are in operation with militarybased flying clubs, Civil Air Patrol squadrons, Forestrysewice units and agricultural operations. First civilianbuyer of record for the Mentor was the InternationalTraining Center for Civil Aviation, Mexico City, Mexico.Representatives of the flight school took delivery of fourModel 45 aircraft in ceremonies at Beechcraft, Wichita,in April 1958.A total of 1,904 Mentors were manufactured by Beech-craft from December 1948 through 1958. These included353 of the YT-34 and T-34 models produced from March1950 to October 1, 1956 for the U.S. Air Force. The U.S.Navy version-the T-34B-was in production fromOctober 1954 to mid 1957 with 423 units delivered. Beechalso produced 318 units of the Model 45 for export.The YT-34 was powered by the Continental F,-225-gengine rated aI 220-hp. It had a top speed of 188-mph,ctuising speed of 167, ceiling of 21,200 feet and grcssweight oI 2,750 pounds. The T-34A was powered by theContinental 0-470-13, rated at 225-hp, had a top speedof 189-mph, cruising speed of 173, seNice ceiling of 20,000feet and a gross weight of 2,950 pounds.The T-34B carried the same Continental engine as theT-34A, but performance fgutes list a high speed of 188-mph, cruising speed of 170,mph, service ceiling of 19,500feet and gross weight of 2,985 pounds. The Navy Mentorwas digtinguished from its Air Force counterpart by p!es-ence of a notch at the trailing edge base of the tail.Beechcraft received CAA type ce{ifcate 5A3 for theMentor design in October 1943. The aircraft containedmany parts enterchangeable with Bonanza models ofthe same vintage but the Beechcraft Pa s and Serviceorganization does not supply pats fot the Mentor onthe civilian market.Specifications. Two-place tandem seating single-enginetraioer with full cantilever, low-wing design and retract-able tricycle landing gear. Wingspan 32 feet, 10 inches;Length 25 ft-, 11 in.; Height 9 ft., 7 in.; Wing Loading16.03 lbe/per sq. ft.; Power Loading 12.89 lbs/per sq. ft,

Ki6sin' cousin to the Mentor is latest Beechcraft Bonanza, all-metal,4-place lurbocharged Model V3STC; 28b-hp; 240-mph fi:p.


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cap beechcraft t-34 story (1966)

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