BT-13 Centex Wing
Description:
Base:
San Marcos, TX
Website:
| BT-13 Specs | |
|---|---|
| Role | Trainer |
| Manufacturer | Vultee Aircraft |
| Introduced | Jun 1940 |
| Power | 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-1 nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 450 hp |
| Length | 28 ft 10 in |
| Height | 11 ft 6 in |
| Wingspan | 42 ft 0 in |
| Range | 725 mi |
The BT-13 is an American WWII-era Basic Trainer aircraft. It is a fixed-gear, low-wing taildragger with a crew of two sitting in tandem. When production ended in 1944, approximately 11,537 Valiants were built.
It was flown by most American pilots in transitioning from Primary trainers like the PT-19 to more advanced trainers like the AT-6. The BT-13 was more complex than the Primary Trainer and required the use of a two-way radio, landing flaps, and a two-position, and had a controllable-pitch prop.
The BT-13 was nick-named the “Vultee Vibrator” by its pilots for its most remarkable characteristic- a tendency to shake violently as it approached stall speed.
The Vultee BT-13 Valiant was an American World War II-era basic 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.
