Vultee BT-13B Valiant
The Vultee BT-13 started off as a fighter design independently developed by Vultee in the hopes of a US Army Air Corps contract. When the company learned that the USAAC was about to open a competition for a new advanced trainer, the V-51 was redesigned as a two-seat trainer, with an enclosed cockpit, mostly metal construction, and retractable landing gear. Unfortunately for Vultee, the USAAC chose North American's design instead (which would become the T-6 Texan), but the V-51 intrigued the service enough that further prototypes were ordered for study. After more testing, the USAAC ordered 300 V-51s as the BT-13 Valiant in 1939.
Though not as fast or advanced as the T-6, the BT-13 provided a good supplement to the North American design, and as an interim step between open-cockpit primary trainers such as the PT-17 Kaydet and the T-6. The Valiant, like all good trainer designs, was forgiving, relatively easy to fly, and responsive. It did have an unfortunate tendency to vibrate at high speeds and in aerobatics, leading cadets to nickname it the "Vibrator." It also had the occasional tendency for the tail to shear off in high-G maneuvers, which led the USAAC to ban aerobatics in BT-13s. BT-13s were also sold in large numbers abroad, especially to Latin American air forces.
Though the BT-13 was reliable, it was rapidly becoming obsolete by 1943, and there was not anything it could do that the T-6 could do as well. Beginning in 1944, the BT-13 and its variants were gradually retired, and those that were not scrapped were sold as surplus after the war. A respectable 9500 BT-13s were produced, and about 35 survive today.
BT-13B 42-90054 was one of the last Valiants to be produced, and entered service with the USAAF in early 1944. It flew from Oscoda Field, Michigan for the rest of the war, training Free French Air Force pilots. After the war, it was sold as surplus, and went through several owners, including Bob Irwin of Aircraft Spruce and Specialty, who bought 42-90054 for a mere $700 in 1951. Irwin later sold the aircraft, but in 2015, his sons found the aircraft in Texas, returned it to California, and restored it to flyable status. It was then donated to Planes of Fame.
42-90054 wears the light gray of a Civil Air Patrol aircraft, along with the large N numbers used by CAP aircraft in the 1950s and 1960s. I saw this aircraft on a beautiful California morning in May 2021.
Vultee BT-13B Valiant
The Vultee BT-13 started off as a fighter design independently developed by Vultee in the hopes of a US Army Air Corps contract. When the company learned that the USAAC was about to open a competition for a new advanced trainer, the V-51 was redesigned as a two-seat trainer, with an enclosed cockpit, mostly metal construction, and retractable landing gear. Unfortunately for Vultee, the USAAC chose North American's design instead (which would become the T-6 Texan), but the V-51 intrigued the service enough that further prototypes were ordered for study. After more testing, the USAAC ordered 300 V-51s as the BT-13 Valiant in 1939.
Though not as fast or advanced as the T-6, the BT-13 provided a good supplement to the North American design, and as an interim step between open-cockpit primary trainers such as the PT-17 Kaydet and the T-6. The Valiant, like all good trainer designs, was forgiving, relatively easy to fly, and responsive. It did have an unfortunate tendency to vibrate at high speeds and in aerobatics, leading cadets to nickname it the "Vibrator." It also had the occasional tendency for the tail to shear off in high-G maneuvers, which led the USAAC to ban aerobatics in BT-13s. BT-13s were also sold in large numbers abroad, especially to Latin American air forces.
Though the BT-13 was reliable, it was rapidly becoming obsolete by 1943, and there was not anything it could do that the T-6 could do as well. Beginning in 1944, the BT-13 and its variants were gradually retired, and those that were not scrapped were sold as surplus after the war. A respectable 9500 BT-13s were produced, and about 35 survive today.
BT-13B 42-90054 was one of the last Valiants to be produced, and entered service with the USAAF in early 1944. It flew from Oscoda Field, Michigan for the rest of the war, training Free French Air Force pilots. After the war, it was sold as surplus, and went through several owners, including Bob Irwin of Aircraft Spruce and Specialty, who bought 42-90054 for a mere $700 in 1951. Irwin later sold the aircraft, but in 2015, his sons found the aircraft in Texas, returned it to California, and restored it to flyable status. It was then donated to Planes of Fame.
42-90054 wears the light gray of a Civil Air Patrol aircraft, along with the large N numbers used by CAP aircraft in the 1950s and 1960s. I saw this aircraft on a beautiful California morning in May 2021.