Vultee BT-13 Valiant

what is it?

The Vultee BT-13 Valiant is an American World War II-era basic (a category between primary and advanced) 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.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 12.8 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 290 km/htop speed
• range 1,167 kmwithout refuelling
• size 2,039 kgmax take-off weight
• built 9,525made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 87 years ago, in 1939.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 12.8 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🌍Range of 1,167 km: 6× Amsterdam to Brussels.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1939-03-24

introduced

1940

number built

9,525

role

trainer

makers

Vultee Aircraft

engines

1× Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-1

crew

2

length

8.8 m

wingspan

12.8 m

height

3.5 m

max take-off weight

2,039 kg

top speed

290 km/h

range

1,167 km

ceiling

6,599 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.