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Description
| Manufacturer: | Vultee | |
| Base model: | BT-13 | |
| Designation: | BT-13 | |
| Version: | A | |
| Nickname: | Valiant | |
| Designation System: | U.S. Air Force | |
| Designation Period: | 1930-1947 | |
| Basic role: | Basic Trainer | |
Specifications
| Length: | 28' 10" | 8.7 m | |
| Height: | 9' 1" | 2.7 m | |
| Wingspan: | 42' 2" | 12.8 m | |
| Wingarea: | 238.0 sq ft | 22.1 sq m | |
| Empty Weight: | 3,375 lb | 1,530 kg | |
| Gross Weight: | 4,496 lb | 2,039 kg | |
Propulsion
| No. of Engines: | 1 | ||
| Powerplant: | Pratt & Whitney R-985-25 | ||
| Horsepower (each): | 450 | ||
Performance
| Range: | 516 miles | 830 km | |
| Cruise Speed: | 140 mph | 225 km/h | 121 kt |
| Max Speed: | 166 mph | 267 km/h | 144 kt |
| Ceiling: | 16,500 ft | 5,029 m | |
Known serial numbers
Examples of this type may be found at
| Museum | City | State |
| Confederate Air Force (Southern Minnesota Wing) | South St. Paul | Minnesota |
| Edward F. Beale Museum | Beale AFB | California |
| March Field Air Museum | Riverside | California |
| Pima Air & Space Museum | Tucson | Arizona |
| South Dakota Air and Space Museum | Ellsworth AFB | South Dakota |
| Travis Air Force Museum | Travis AFB | California |
| Vance AFB | Vance AFB | Oklahoma |
BT-13A on display
Edward F. Beale Museum | March Field Air Museum | March Field Museum | Travis Air Force Museum |
Recent comments by our visitors
| David Gunn Valley Center,, CA | I flew the Vultee Vibrator as a member of Class 43H at Merced Army Air Base, California, from April to June, 1943. I later flew a B-25 to Australia in June, 1944 and became a member of the 405th Squadron, 38th Bomb Group, flying 31 1/2 mission in the southwest Pacific and Philippines. Most of these flight were in B-25Js with eight 50 caliber machine guns in the nose and two more on each side of the cockpit, 2 in the top turret, two more in the waist, and two in the tail turret - the most heavily armed plane in the Air Force at the time.
It amazes me that I can find absolutely no mention that a number of BT-13s were built with wooden monocoques (A metal saving project). There were several of these at Merced AAB. We were to limit spins to 3 turns. On my final flight, My instructor told me to put the plane into a spin from 12,000 feet and hold it until he told me to pull it out. I don't know how many turns we made but we pulled out at about 5,000 feet and soon landed. His face turned white when he took a last look at the plane and notice it had a wooden monocoque. 02/02/2013 @ 20:16 [ref: 67544] |
| Clint Royce Layton, UT | In 1951 I was assigned to Cal Aero Tech Institute in Glendale,CA for A&E training by the Air Force. They had a number of BT-13s along with several other military types.
The first aircraft I ever started and ran up was old number 12 BT-13. It is a cherished memory. 08/28/2012 @ 10:05 [ref: 66434] |
| Clint Royce Layton, UT | In 1951 I was assigned to Cal Aero Tech Institute in Glendale,CA for A&E training by the Air Force. They had a number of BT-13s along with several other military types.
The first aircraft I ever started and ran up was old number 12 BT-13. It is a cherished memory. 08/28/2012 @ 10:05 [ref: 66433] |
| Reese N. Pratt LOS ANGELES CA 90041-, CA | I am the son of Kenneth E. Pratt, who at one time owned a BT13B and before that a BT13A and before that a PT22 (Ryan). I learned to fly with my father in the BT, we use to go to the high desert dry lake bed (El Mirage) and I would practice my landings and taking offs! We spent a whole year with it torn down, had a major overhaul performed on the P & W R-985, it was brought back to standard. In 1968, around about, my father was constructing a new house in the Los Angeles Area. This was about the time that an outfit was combing the country for 20TH Century Fox, they purchased my Dad's Vultee, plus many others and T-6s too! The planes were all taken to Long Beach Airport and they were converted (modified as it were) to depict Zeroes, Vals and Kates (a three seat bomber). As you probably have guessed by now, these planes were loaded on a barge and shipped to Hawaii. They were used in the making of the movie "Tora, Tora, Tora". Well the plane that use to belong to my father (N63227) crashed in a sugar cane field, it was I heard a high speed stall. Obviously with all the modifications, the characteristics of how these planes flew changed and if a pilot was use to a plane reacting in a certain way, well now it was totally different, and I doubt that they did enough test flying to learn the planes new dos and don'ts (after these modifications. A new flight manual was needed for each plane! In any event, my Dad is still around (going be 89 this year) and he would be real happy to communicate with anyone about the old BTs. My Dad was a radar operator on a B17 in Italy. You can get in touch with me and I will get to him. I was in the Army and spent 14 months in Viet Nam, 10 of these months in Cu Chi where I was exposed to Agent Orange on a number of occasions, I now have Type 2 Diabetes and Ischemic Heart Disease from it all! 03/16/2012 @ 09:22 [ref: 54315] |
| Paul Krumrei Otsego, MN | Could Louis Pratt
CALDWELL, ID CONTACT ME ABOUT YOUR PLANE? tHANKS! 01/05/2008 @ 20:02 [ref: 19167] |
| Louis Pratt CALDWELL, ID | I am the owner of BT=13A, sn/41-21726 (mfg sn/5565). It was assigned to Lemoore, Stockton, Lancaster, Ontario, Marana and Kingman. 12/17/2007 @ 01:52 [ref: 18945] |
| Charles E. Dills San Luis Obispo, CA | I was in class 43-E. I was in the first cadet class at Courtland AL when they opened the field, about February 1943.
We flew the BT-13 for 60 hours. "Landing insructions, please. Wheels down and welded, head up and locked!" See my page at: http://www.charlies-web.com/WWII_med/contentsced15.html about 60% of the way down the page. charlesdills@mac.com http://www.charlies-web.com 11/05/2007 @ 21:41 [ref: 18418] |
| Charles E. Dills San Luis Obispo, CA | I was in class 43-E. I was in the first cadet class at Courtland AL when they opened the field, about February 1943.
We flew the BT-13 for 60 hours. "Landing insructions, please. Wheels down and welded, head up and locked!" See my page at: http://www.charlies-web.com/WWII_med/contentsced15.html about 60% of the way down the page. charlesdills@mac.com http://www.charlies-web.com 11/05/2007 @ 21:40 [ref: 18417] |
| DALLAS L BANCROFT LAKELAND, FL | I ALSO LEARNED TO FLY THE VULTEE VIBORATOR IN INDEPENDANCE KS. I 1944 THEN ALSO BT 14S AND TB25S.. 10/11/2005 @ 09:12 [ref: 11451] |
| Renzo Ciriani , OTH | The Vultee BT-13A was a basic instruction plane uses in Peru on 1944 09/19/2005 @ 06:52 [ref: 11277] |
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