Vultee BT-13 Valiant
Developed as a private venture,
the BT-13 was selected for US Army Air Corps use in
September 1939. The type was the most numberous USAAF
trainer of the Second
World War, its production career
lasting from 1940 to 1944.
During late 1947 and early 1948 agents
of the "Haganah" movement
scoured the world in search of aircraft for the "Shirut
Avir" (air service), the IAF's predecessor.
In early 1948 a pair of BT-13 were acquired in the
US, out of five initially negotiated for. Of these
only one departed the United States on April 10th 1948
on board Curtiss C-46 Commandos also
destined for the "Shirut Avir". Although
the plane apparently arrived in Israel on
May 18 and sent to Ekron, by early July it had not
yet been assembled . Once in service (by early September,
possibly a month earlier) and designated B.62, the
aircraft was used for basic pilot training with the
101st squadron at Herzliya. When IAF aircraft were
reserialled in late November 1948 B.62 received the
number 91001 although it was no longer airworthy in
January 1949. It was retired shortly later and handed
over to the Israeli Aviation Club. It may have been
joined by the second as-yet-unassembled example initially
acquired in the US.
Specification: Vultee BT-13A Valiant
Type: two-seat basic trainer.
Powerplant: one Pratt & Whitney
R-984-AN-1.
Performance: max speed - 284 km/h,
range - 1,166km.
Weights: empty - 1,822kg, max takeoff
- 2,438kg.
Dimensions: span - 12.80m, length
- 8.79m, height - 3.50m.
Armament: none.
Sources: IAF Inventory |