Fleetwings BT-12 Sophomore

The Fleetwings BT-12 Sophomore, also known by the company designation Model 23, was a 1940s all-metal basic training monoplane built by Fleetwings for the United States Army Air Forces. Only 24 production examples of the type were built before the contract was cancelled.

BT-12 Sophomore
The XBT-12
Role Basic trainer
National origin United States
Manufacturer Fleetwings
First flight 1939
Primary user United States Army Air Forces
Produced 1942-1943
Number built 25

Design and development

With the outbreak of the Second World War, the United States Army Air Corps (later U.S. Army Air Forces) was ill-prepared for a major war. In an effort to obtain as many aircraft as possible the USAAF contracted Fleetwings, a specialist fabricator of sheet stainless steel,[1] to produce a basic training monoplane. A prototype Model 23 was ordered as the XBT-12 during 1939.[2]

The XBT-12 was an all-metal low-wing cantilever monoplane with a fixed tailwheel landing gear and powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-985 engine. The aircraft had two identical tandem cockpits for instructor and pupil covered by a continuous canopy. It was the first military aircraft to be constructed primarily from welded stainless steel.[3]

Operational history

After evaluation of the XBT-12 starting in late 1939,[4] and delivery of the first aircraft to Wright Field in 1941,[5] an order for 176 production aircraft, designated BT-12, was placed.[6] Only 24 aircraft were delivered, one in 1942 and 23 in 1943,[7] before the contract was cancelled,[2] the Vultee BT-13 being preferred.[1]

Variants
XBT-12
Army designation for the prototype Model 23, one built.
BT-12
Army designation for the production Model 23, 24 built, 152 cancelled.

Operators
 United States
United States Army Air Forces

Specifications (BT-12)

Data from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing; also [4]

General characteristics

  • Crew: Two (pilot and instructor)
  • Length: 29 ft 2 in (8.89 m)
  • Wingspan: 40 ft (12 m)
  • Height: 11 ft 4 in (3.45 m)
  • Wing area: 240.4 sq ft (22.33 m2)
  • Empty weight: 3,173 lb (1,439 kg)
  • Gross weight: 4,497 lb (2,040 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-1 Wasp Junior radial engine, 450 hp (340 kW)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 195 mph (314 km/h, 169 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 150 mph (240 km/h, 130 kn)
  • Range: 675 mi (1,086 km, 587 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 23,800 ft (7,300 m)
  • Time to altitude: 10 minutes to 10,000 feet

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

References
Notes
  1. Pattillo, Donald M. (2001). Pushing the Envelope: The American Aircraft Industry. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. p. 131. ISBN 978-0472086719.
  2. Gunston, Bill (1994). World Encyclopaedia of Aircraft Manufacturers. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. p. 118. ISBN 978-1557509390.
  3. Pitkin, Walter (1942). What's That Plane?: The Handbook for Practical Aircraft Identification (2nd ed.). New York: Penguin Books. p. 60. ASIN B001DEMTMO.
  4. Historical Office of the Army Air Forces (1947). The official pictorial history of the AAF. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pierce. p. 177. ASIN B000GU84Z2.
  5. "Brevities from Here and There", Air Corps News Letter, vol. 24, no. 3, p. 15, 1 February 1941, retrieved 5 October 2023
  6. Andrade, John (1979). U.S. Military Aircraft Designations and Serials since 1909. Leicester, UK: Midland Counties Publications. p. 61. ISBN 0-904597-22-9.
  7. Trimble, William F. (1982). High Frontier: A History of Aeronautics in Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 217–218. ISBN 0-8229-5340-4.
Bibliography
  • The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing

Further reading
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