Vultee BT-13 Valiant

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BT-13 Valiant
A restored Vultee BT-13 over an Airshow in Dallas, 2019
Role Trainer
Manufacturer Vultee Aircraft
First flight March 1939
Introduction June 1940
Primary users United States Army Air Forces
United States Navy
Number built 9,525

The Vultee BT-13 Valiant is an American World War II-era basic (a category between primary and advanced) trainer aircraft built by Vultee Aircraft for the United States Army Air Corps, and later US Army Air Forces. A subsequent variant of the BT-13 in USAAC/USAAF service was known as the BT-15 Valiant, while an identical version for the US Navy was known as the SNV and was used to train naval aviators for the US Navy and its sister services, the US Marine Corps and US Coast Guard.[1]

Design and development[edit]

Vultee BC-3 prototype in flight

According to Jonathan Thompson, "The three trainer designs that shared their basic engineering with the Vanguard fighter were all promoted under the same name, Valiant. The prototypes had consectutive serial numbers 139, 140 and 141 and made their first flights in the Spring and Summer of 1939. While similar in appearance, they were distinct in purpose and performance, and only one of them succeeded in winning a production contract. This turned out to be six AC contracts with three supplements, eventually amounting to 11,526 aircraft, plus twelve ordered by Peru, for a total of 11,538."[2]

On 24 March, the Vultee BC-51 advanced trainer first flew, but lost out in competition to the North American AT-6. The Air Corps did accept the Vultee BC-51 though, designating it as the BC-3 after some upgrades in the Spring of 1940. On 9 June, Vultee model 54 advanced trainer first flew. Its original 450-hp Wright Whirlwind was eventually replaced with a R-1340. On 28 July, the Vultee model 54A first flew. According to Thompson, "A Basic Trainer, similar to the model 54 except for its fixed landing gear and P&W R-985 engine, it struck pay dirt. In August the USAAC selected it for volume production as the BT-13. which became the standard type for the category throughout World War II."[2][3]

The Vultee BT-13 was the basic trainer flown by most American pilots during World War II. It was the second phase of the three phase training program for pilots. After primary training in PT-13, PT-17, or PT-19 trainers, the student pilot moved to the more complex Vultee for continued flight training. The BT-13 had a more powerful engine and was faster and heavier than the primary trainer. It required the student pilot to use two way radio communications with the ground and to operate landing flaps and a two-position Hamilton Standard controllable-pitch propeller (or, more commonly, a constant-speed propeller[1]).

The BT-13A dispensed with the landing gear fairings. Due to the demand for this aircraft, and others which used the same Pratt & Whitney engine, some were equipped with Wright powerplants of similar size and power built in 1941–42. The Wright-equipped aircraft were designated BT-15.[1] The BT-15B had a 24-volt electrical system.[2]

The Navy adopted the P&W powered aircraft as their main basic trainer, designating it the SNV. The BT-13 production run outnumbered all other Basic Trainer (BT) types produced.[4][5]

Vultee BT-13 on runway at Minter Field, California, 1 March 1943

According to Thompson, "Because of Vultee's outstanding production achievement, as well as the service's accelerated traiing programs, the huge pilot requirements were met by mid-1943 and the last Valiants were built in mid-1944. Except for resonances in various flight modes that earned it the nickname 'Vibrator,' the Valiant's simplicity and effectiveness caused it to be taken for granted, and practically forgotten after all of them were sold at war's end."[2]

The BT-13 was not without its faults. Some had been built with plywood tailcones and empennages, which did not always remain firmly aligned with the aircraft.[1]

Thompson states, "Most of the 5137 Valiants sold in the United States by the War Assets Administration, Reconstruction Finance Corporation and other agencies went for $450, a mere $1/hp, to cropdusters who wanted only the R-985 and R-975 engines."[2]

Variants[edit]

BT-15
SNV-2
BC-3
Vultee Model V.51 with retractable landing gear and a 600hp P&W R-1340-45, one built, not developed.
BT-13
Vultee Model V.54 with fixed undercarriage and a 450hp P&W R-985-25 engine, 300 built.
BT-13A
As BT-13 but fitted with a 450hp R-985-AN-1 engine and minor changes, 6407 built, survivors re-designated T-13A in 1948.
BT-13B
As BT-13A but with a 24-volt electrical system, 1125 built.
BT-15
As BT-13A with a 450hp Wright R-975-11 engine, 1693 built.
XBT-16
One BT-13A was re-built in 1942 by Vidal with an all-plastic fuselage as the XBT-16.
SNV-1
BT-13As for the United States Navy, 1350 transferred from United States Army Air Corps.
SNV-2
BT-13Bs for the United States Navy, 650 transferred from United States Army Air Corps.
T-13A
Surviving BT-13As were re-designated in 1948, due to dual allocation of T-13 with the PT-13 in practice they were still known as the BT-13 to avoid confusion.

Operators[edit]

 Argentina
 Bolivia
 Brazil
 Chile
 China
 Colombia
 China[7]
 Cuba
 Dominican Republic
 Ecuador
 Egypt
 El Salvador
 France
 Guatemala
 Haiti
 Honduras
 Indonesia
 Israel
 Mexico[6]
 Nicaragua
 Panama
 Paraguay[6]
 Peru
 Philippines[7]
 Soviet Union
 United States
 Venezuela

Surviving aircraft[edit]

Australia

Brazil
Canada
Indonesia
Indonesian Air Force BT-13A Valiant at the Dirgantara Mandala Museum
Netherlands
42-43210 (N313BT) at Duxford Aerodrome in England
United States
Vultee BT-13A/SNV-1 Valiant at the Air Zoo
Vultee SNV-2 Valiant at the Cavanaugh Flight Museum

Popular culture[edit]

Aichi D3A replica at the Geneseo Airshow. In 1968 a Vultee BT-13 Valiant (N56867) was converted to a Val replica for use in the filming of the movie "Tora! Tora! Tora!", flown as Val "AI-244" (Carrier Akagi). The BT-13 has been maintained in that configuration ever since, and is now flown at airshows as "BI-211" with markings of Carrier Soryu.

The 1942 Army training film Winning Your Wings opens with actor Jimmy Stewart landing a BT-13.

BTs were used by Twentieth Century Fox in the 1970 motion picture "Tora! Tora! Tora!", converted to look like Aichi D3A Vals. After filming, the studio sold or donated the altered aircraft.[2]: 99 [90][91]

Specifications (BT-13A)[edit]

3-view line drawing of the Vultee Valiant
3-view line drawing of the Vultee Valiant

Data from United States Military Aircraft since 1909[92]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Length: 28 ft 10 in (8.79 m)
  • Wingspan: 42 ft 0 in (12.80 m)
  • Height: 11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
  • Wing area: 239 sq ft (22.2 m2)
  • Empty weight: 3,375 lb (1,531 kg)
  • Gross weight: 4,496 lb (2,039 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-1 nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 450 hp (340 kW)
  • Propellers: 2-bladed Hamilton-Standard 2-position

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 180 mph (290 km/h, 160 kn)
  • Range: 725 mi (1,167 km, 630 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 21,650 ft (6,600 m)
  • Time to altitude: 9.2 minutes to 10,000 ft (3,000 m)

See also[edit]

Related development:

Comparable aircraft:

References[edit]

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  3. ^ Wegg 1990, p. 158.
  4. ^ Herman, Arthur (2012), Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, New York, NY: Random House, pp. 203, 262–3, ISBN 978-1-4000-6964-4
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Bibliography[edit]

  • Andersson, Lennart (2008). A History of Chinese Aviation: Encyclopedia of Aircraft and Aviation in China to 1949. Taipei, Republic of China: AHS of ROC. ISBN 978-957-28533-3-7.
  • "Pentagon Over the Islands: The Thirty-Year History of Indonesian Military Aviation". Air Enthusiast Quarterly (2): 154–162. n.d. ISSN 0143-5450.
  • Sapienza, Antonio Luis (May 2001). "L'aviation militare paraguayenne durant la seconde guerre mondiale" [Paraguayan Military Aviation During the Second World War]. Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (98): 30–33. ISSN 1243-8650.
  • Swanborough, F. G.; Bowers, Peter M. (1963). U.S. Military Aircraft since 1909. London: Putnam.
  • Wegg, John (1990). General Dynamics Aircraft and their Predecessors. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books. ISBN 0-85177-833-X.

External links[edit]

Media related to Vultee BT-13 Valiant at Wikimedia Commons