Vultee BT-13

Vultee BT-13
BT-13 Valiant in flight
Type:	single-engine trainer aircraft
Design country:	United States
Manufacturer:	Vultee Aircraft
First flight:	March 1939
Number of pieces:	11,537

Vultee BT-13B

The Vultee BT-13 Valiant (factory name: Model 74) was a single-engine American trainer aircraft in World War II . Although the BT-13 has remained relatively unknown to this day, with 11,537 aircraft it was one of the most frequently built machines of the Second World War.

The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) were looking for a new trainer aircraft in the late 1930s. The BT-13 was in competition with the Fairchild PT-19 and Boeing-Stearman PT-17 . In 1939 USAAC ordered the first 300 BT-13 machines. With the beginning of the war, BT-13 variants were built in very large numbers.

The BT-13 was a low-wing aircraft with a rigid landing gear. The BT-13 was used as the next larger training aircraft after basic training with the PT-19 and Stearman. Then the pilots received further training on the North American AT-6 .

During World War II, thousands of pilots were trained at Castle Air Force Base (Merced Army Air Field) in Atwater, California . Production of the BT-13 ceased in 1944.

variants

• BT-13 , 300 pieces, (BT stood for Basic Trainer and was used from 1930 to 1947)
• BT-13A , new Pratt & Whitney R-985 -AN-1, 457 hp (336 kW) engine, 6,407 units
• BT-13B , new on-board electronics, 1,125 pieces
• BT-15 , new Wright R-975 -11 Whirlwind engine, 457 hp (336 kW), 1,693 pieces
• SNV-1 , BT-13A sold to the US Navy, 1,350 pieces (SN stood for Scout Trainer and was used by the US Navy from 1938 to 1948, V meant Vultee , see also the Navy designation system )
• SNV-2B , BT-13B delivered to the US Navy, 650 pieces

production

Acceptance of the BT-13 and BT-15 by the USAAF:

version	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	TOTAL
BT-13	232	68				300
BT-13A		1,761	3,155	2.121		7,037
BT-13A Peru		12				12
BT-13B				146	979	1,125
BT-15			387	876		1,263
SNV-1			590	560		1,150
SNV-2				346	304	650
TOTAL	232	1,841	4.132	4,049	1,283	11,537

Museum aircraft

• Mid-Atlantic Air Museum, Reading (Berks County, Pennsylvania) - 1942 BT-13A Valiant
• Castle Air Museum , Atwater, California

Technical specifications

Parameter	BT-13A data
crew	Flight instructor and student pilot
length	8.79 m
span	12.80 m
Wing area	22 m²
height	3.51 m
Engines	1 × Pratt & Whitney R-985 -AN-1, 336 kW (450 PS)
Top speed	290 km / h
Range	1167 km
Service ceiling	6600 m
Empty mass	1531 kg
Takeoff mass	2039 kg

Web links

Commons : Vultee BT-13 Valiant  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• BT-13.org
• Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum BT-13

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Statistical Digest of the USAF 1946, p. 100 ff .; Thompson, Jonathan: Vultee Aircraft 1932-1947, Santa Ana 1992