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 Standardcontrollable-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]
According to Thompson, "Because of Vultee's outstanding production achievement, as well as the service's accelerated training 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
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.
41-10571 – BT-13A on static display at the Quik Stop Mini-Mart in Caruthers, California. It is mounted nose-first on top of a gas station island awning.[33]
41-10814 – BT-13A airworthy with Vultee Resource & Management in Yukon, Oklahoma.[34][35]
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)
Data from United States Military Aircraft since 1909[92]
^ a b c dDavisson, Budd: "Vultee's BT-13 Pilot Maker: Good vibrations from the Vultee Vibrator" (aircraft review and pilot report), August 1972, Air Progress, retrieved January 11, 2023 from Airbum.com
^ a b c d e fThompson, Jonathan. Vultee Aircraft 1932-1947. Santa Ana: Narkiewicz//Thompson. pp. 66–99. ISBN 0913322024.
^Wegg 1990, p. 158.
^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
^Borth, Christy (1945), Masters of Mass Production, Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill Co., pp. 251–252
^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o pWegg 1990, p. 139.
^ a b c dWegg 1990, p. 160.
^Wegg 1990, pp. 159–160.
^"Aircraft Register [VH-JKV]". Australian Government Civil Aviation Safety Authority. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
^"FAA REGISTRY [N60277]". Federal Aviation Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
^"Chico Air Museum Photo Gallery". Chico Air Museum. Chico Air Museum. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
^Urseny, Laura (2 February 2016). "BT-13 trainer brings WWII era back to Chico airport". Chico Enterprise-Record. Chico Enterprise-Record. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
^"FAA REGISTRY [N63697]". Federal Aviation Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
^"FAA REGISTRY [N60794]". Federal Aviation Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
^Headquarters United States Air Force Historical Research Center Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama 36112-6678
^"Vultee BT-13B Valiant". National Museum of the US Air Force. 20 April 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
^"Flying & Static Aircraft". Planes of Fame Air Museum. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
^"FAA REGISTRY [N54822]". Federal Aviation Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
^Sparkes, Graham F. (18 September 2014). "Vultee Valiant, N57655 / 7832, Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum". ABPic. AIR-BRITAIN. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
^"BT-13 Valiant". Fort Worth Aviation Museum. Fort Worth Aviation Museum. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
^"BT-13 wreck at the Planes of Fame Museum AZ". Wreckchasing.com. 25 September 2008. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
^"Restoration project: BT-13". Fargo Air Museum. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
^"Vultee BT-15 (Movie Conversion Aichi D3Y 'Val')". Planes of Fame Air Museum. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
^"TORA! TORA! TORA! TURNS FIFTY". Retrieved 1 December 2023.
^Swanborough and Bowers 1963, p. 461
Bibliography
"Pentagon Over the Islands: The Thirty-Year History of Indonesian Military Aviation". Air Enthusiast Quarterly (2): 154–162. June 1976. ISSN 0143-5450.
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.
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. OCLC 464065470.
Wegg, John (1990). General Dynamics Aircraft and Their Predecessors. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books. ISBN 0-85177-833-X.
External links
Media related to Vultee BT-13 Valiant at Wikimedia Commons