Derived from Beechcraft’s Bonanza, the Mentor gave military students economical primary instruction in a responsive tandem-seat aircraft. Its conventional controls and clear handling helped students build formation, navigation, and aerobatic fundamentals before advancing to faster and more complex trainers.
INTERACTIVE MODEL LOADS WHEN NEARBY
2016 / ModernAirframe B
F-35A Lightning II
Lockheed Martin · Conventional multirole fighter
HISTORICAL FIELD NOTE
The conventional-runway F-35A combines low-observable shaping, sensor fusion, and internal weapons carriage with the lightest airframe and largest internal fuel load of the three F-35 variants. It entered U.S. Air Force operational service in 2016 and is designed for both air-to-air and precision-strike missions.
PERFORMANCE
SPECIFICATION BREAKDOWN
METRICT-34A MentorF-35A Lightning II
Top speed
189 mphREFERENCE VALUE
Mach 1.6REFERENCE VALUE
Ceiling
20,000 ftREFERENCE VALUE
50,000 ftREFERENCE VALUE
Range
770 miREFERENCE VALUE
1,200+ nmiAPPROXIMATE / PUBLISHED
Archive milestone
Service entry · 1953REFERENCE VALUE
Service entry · 2016REFERENCE VALUE
Nation
United StatesDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
United StatesDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Primary role
Primary trainerDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Conventional multirole fighterDESCRIPTIVE VALUE
Values are concise archive references and can vary by variant, payload, configuration, altitude, operating conditions, and source. Range may describe different published measures where a directly comparable figure is unavailable.
