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)

3-view line drawing of the Fleetwings BT-12 Sophomore

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

• North American BT-9
• Vultee BT-13 Valiant

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of the United States

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

• Baker, David (October 1943). "Design Analysis of the Fleetwings BT-12". Aviation. pp. 119–132, 356.