Aircraft model
BEECH D-45 (T-34B)
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Beech D-45 is the T-34B Mentor, the US Navy version of the tandem two-seat military primary trainer built on Bonanza wings and landing gear with a new fuselage and a sliding canopy. It differs from the Air Force A45 in detail equipment rather than in substance.
It is bought for the experience: a real military trainer with excellent visibility, aerobatic capability and handling that owners describe as the best thing Beech ever built. The costs are those of a warbird rather than a light aircraft — a surplus airframe with a military maintenance history, and structural inspections including a well-known wing spar airworthiness directive arising from in-flight failures during aerobatics. Verify the spar AD status before anything else; it is the single most important question on any Mentor.
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Put BEECH D-45 (T-34B) side by side with up to two other models.
- BEECH D-45 (T-34B)
What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental O-470-13A |
| Horsepower | 225 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | military-surplus |
| Production start | 1955 |
| Production end | 1958 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 150 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 650 nm |
| Service ceiling | 20,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,230 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 52 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,400 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,300 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 875 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 575 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,950 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,075 lb |
| Usable fuel | 50 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 12.6 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $200,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $320,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,500 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $40,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $55,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 15 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 5 |
| Median year built | 1957.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | — |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | — |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 1 |
| Transfers per 100 active | — |
| Airworthiness directives | 5 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | none |
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | 0.9 of 104 |
| Liquidity | —5 |
- Accident record: class median 28.36 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 11.65.
- Access: class median 767.75.
- Support: class median 141.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.57.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.