What can you say about the first aircraft you every flew except to say that that first solo was a thing of pure elation;you were on your way to earning those coveted Wings of Goldd.

Make no mistake, this was all aircraft in every sense of the word. It behaved just as aircraft were supposed to behave, and exposed students to just about all there is to flying. It had great aeronautical engineering, terrific maintenance (thank you guys) and always responded with what the controls told it to do. On my solo flight, I remember looking at the initials USAF on one wing and the star on the other wing and thinking with aircraft like this the Air Force really wants me to succeed as much as I want to earn my wings. Thanks for the experience.

Make no mistake, this was all aircraft in every sense of the word. It behaved just as aircraft were supposed to behave, and exposed students to just about all there is to flying. It had great aeronautical engineering, terrific maintenance (thank you guys) and always responded with what the controls told it to do. On my solo flight, I remember looking at the initials USAF on one wing and the star on the other wing and thinking with aircraft like this the Air Force really wants me to succeed as much as I want to earn my wings. Thanks for the experience.

Cessna followed Beach's lead with the Bird Dog, basically a 170 with modifications to the cabin design for tandem seats.

Amazing the basic airframe that started the Bonanza line is still being produced today both for military and civilian uses after more hen 60 years.

I am working on an article about US Navy use of the T-34B/C for primary training and would like to hear from anyone who was trained or instructed on this type. I would particulalry like to know aboput the Mentor's good and bad points, ease, or not, to fly and maintain etc. I look forward to hearing from any mentor veterans out there.

USAF Class 58J or K at Bainbridge Air Base, GA.
Beech T-34A (TL 13627)solo at Donaldsonville Auxiliary Air Strip on 24 April 1957. Neat plane with a great civilian
instructor, Sam Weil. Fun to fly.

The Hawker/Beach T6A/B is not on this site???

I was the XO/CO of VT-2 NAS Whiting in 1978-79 when we tranisationed from T-28's to T-34C's Brand new!!I am here in Pensacola now seeing the last of the birds leave Whiting being replaced by the T6B. ( Grandson completed training in the 2nd class of the Texan II and is now in F16 pipelione. A USAFA grad!

I was in the school of aviation medicine,Pensacola 1956. We were given 10 hours of instruction in the T-34,then taken out to Pace field to solo. Pace field was a HUGH 100 acre cow pasture that was safe for beginners..Great day!Went back 10 years ago to visit,and Pace field is now a city!

AAAAA the A-13 solo First time for everything. Saufley Field went Marines to get Fighters. What fun. what ever happened to class 7-57??? Off to Whiting and T-28s

I picked up a surplus T-34 for the Lockbourne Aero Club in the early 1950's. Great little bird. Very popular with club members.

In the mid 1960's Civil Air Patrol had N204NY,a T-34B, based at (now closed) Zahn's airport in Amityville, NY.
This was a nice step up for us from the Aeronca's, Piper's
and Cessna's we had been used to. With it's 225 hp engine, military style panel, joystick and sliding canopy it gave you that "fighter pilot" feeling. I managed to log 50 hrs. PIC in it before the higher powers decided to sell it due to higher maintenance costs and the fact that its low wing
made it less suitable for search missions. It sure got you to the search area faster however.

Flew the T-34B during the summer of 1961 during USNA Aviation Summer and again at VT-1 at NAAS Saulfley Field near Pensacola, FL and it was the first airplane I ever flew. Great machine to learn to fly in.

I last flew the T-34A(N10465) from Warner Robins in 1991. I flew it to San Antonio, Del Rio texas and back to Robins. I believe the rental cost was around $42.It definitely left me with great memmories and I did lose a sectional once flying to the Georgia coast line in this aircraft. Those augmentor tubes kicked out some oil:)

I was a flight instructor assigned to VT-1 Saufley, Flt 13 70-72 - taught Student AOC's, IUT Sylabus and Flt. Surgeons. Great little trainer, very forgiving and reliable. Many happy memories of those years. I'd love to have had a chance to fly the Turboprop models that came along later.

I absolutely loved this plane. We had two at Beale AFB Aero Club where I was the only enlisted member. Dr. Bill Byerly, who flew B-26s in WWII, was my mentor and instructor. Taught me basic aerobatics. Since Beale was a B-52/KC-135 base, we had the T-34s to ourselves at $7.50 an hour wet! Learned it had a violent spin, was wonderful to fly with canopy open. Once lost my aero charts over LA when my back seat passenger opened her canopy. Great memories.

I agree with all the great memories of the t-34.
we at March ARB in sunny SoCal still have 4 flying..
one B model and 3 A's.(plus 2 parts ones in the hanger)
if the air combat guys in texas had not yanked the wings off a couple of them pulling hi G's it would have saved a lot of problems.. we have had wing mods done to all ours altho they didnt need it, but to satisfy the feds, its done.
if any of you get close to Riverside, CA. stop by the aero club to check out our 4 camo paint jobs..
cheers and remember- "mixture, prop, gears down and locked".

jerry

My Primary Pilot Training Class 56-A was the first to fly this bird out of Spence AB, GA. Our instructors had 4 hrs in it when they took on our class. My instructor was Joe Brown, an ex navy jock. (Corsairs) We learned the bird together. Later classes had restrictions, but our class could play with the whole aerobatic menu. One of the most stable and sweetest birds I ever had the pleasure to fly.

Further, any comparisons of the T-34B and C are purly photographic. The B model is a lateral step from the 1946 Bonanza and the C model is a high performing modern fast mover requiring strakes, ventrals and an air conditioner (you can't crack the canopy because of the exhaust).

This is my favorite airplane. I took my commercial check ride in a T34A in 1987. This was at the Lowry Aero Club at Buckley AFB. I'd love to fly a C model.