What was the first American light jet trainer?

Short answer

The Beechcraft Model 73 Jet Mentor, said to have a claim to being the first light, single-engine jet aircraft built in the United States. It flew on 18 December 1955 with company test pilot Tom Gillespie and carried a Continental J69 engine of 920 lbf (4.1 kN) in the rear fuselage.

Published: November 5, 2026 · Updated: November 5, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

What was the first American light jet trainer?

Lima Lima Flight team flying Beechcraft MentorsJoe Schneid, Louisville, Kentucky (CC BY SA), vía commons

A Mentor with a turbojet

The Model 73 was a jet-powered derivative of the Mentor, also undertaken as a private company venture. The Jet Mentor's first flight took place on 18 December 1955, with company test pilot Tom Gillespie at the controls. It was powered by a single engine mounted in the rear fuselage: the Turbomeca Marboré II, built in the United States by Continental under license from the French manufacturer as the military J-69-T-7, with 920 pounds (4.1 kN) of static thrust. It was said that it could claim the status of the first light, single-engine jet aircraft built in the United States.

Parts taken from the propeller Mentor

Since acquisition and operating costs carried a lot of weight in the competition, the airframe took major assemblies from the Model 45 Mentor (the USAF's T-34A and T-34B), such as the outer wing sections and the tail. The design drew a few pages from the company's ubiquitous airframe "cookbook." It was described as the cheapest jet trainer in the world.