Training Air Wing (TRAWING) 6 marked an end of an era June 22, as its last T-34C Turbomentor training flight took place 8:30 a.m. at Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola’s Sherman Field.

Over the past couple of years, TRAWING 6 has been replacing the T-34C (which they’ve flown since the mid-1980s) for primary and intermediate flight training, and welcoming the T-6A Texan II as the Navy’s newest addition to the Chief of Naval Air Training inventory.

“It truly is the end of an era for us here at Wing SIX,” said Capt. Lee H. Little, commodore, TRAWING 6, who described the last T-34 training mission a “momentous” flight. “We’ve been flying the T-34C since the mid-80s and it’s been a real workhorse of our fleet. It’s been a great airplane for teaching the basics.”

The TRAWING 6 last T-34C training flight was a low-level visual navigation flight where the aircraft (marked number 97) was flown at about 2,000 feet, using visual checkpoints to navigate the aircraft while maintaining a set ground speed. The check-flight involved instructor Lt. Jason Wells from VT-4 and Navy student Ens. Luis Diez.

The T-34C has been used to provide students with communication skills and in basic airmanship and navigation. Both Wells and Diez said it was significant for them to make history by flying the last TRAWING 6 T-34C training flight.

“It felt good because these aircraft have produced thousands of navigators and pilots through the years,” said Wells. “I flew them (T-34Cs) back when I went through primary…so, it was definitely an honor to do it.”

Diez, who began the T-34 training syllabus in November 2004, said he’s really enjoyed the training process, and thought his last T-34C flight in the primary phase of flight training aboard NAS Pensacola was a unique experience.

“It was awesome,” he said. “I really had a lot of fun.”

At the time of the last TRAWING SIX T-34C training flight, there were two other T-34Cs remaining on the flight line. They will eventually be transferred to other Wings and be used for continued flight training.

The T-34C is an unpressurized two-seat, tandem cockpit low-wing turboprop trainer used to train Navy and Marine Corps pilots. It is 9 feet 11 inches in height, weighs 4,425 pounds, and travel up to 280 knots or 322 miles per hour. [ANN Salutes Sheri L. Crowe, Naval Air Station Pensacola Public Affairs]

FMI: www.news.navy.mil/local/naspensacola