Top speed 314 km/h Length 8.8 m | Wingspan 12 m Manufacturer Fleetwings | |
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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.
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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, to produce a basic training monoplane. A prototype Model 23 was ordered as the XBT-12 during 1939.
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.
Operational history
After evaluation of the XBT-12 starting in late 1939, an order for 176 production aircraft, designated BT-12, was placed. Only 24 aircraft were delivered, one in 1942 and 23 in 1943, before the contract was cancelled, the Vultee BT-13 being preferred.
Variants
Operators
Specifications (BT-12)
Data from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985), 1985, Orbis Publishing; also
General characteristics
Performance