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.
[1] According to Jonathan Thompson, "The three trainer designs that shared their basic engineering with the Vanguard fighter were all promoted under the same name, Valiant.
This turned out to be six AC contracts with three supplements, eventually amounting to 11,526 aircraft, plus twelve ordered by Peru, for a total of 11,538.
According to Thompson, "A Basic Trainer, similar to the model 54 except for its fixed landing gear and P&W R-985 engine, it struck pay dirt.
Due to the demand for this aircraft, and others which used the same Pratt & Whitney engine, some were equipped with Wright powerplants of similar size and power built in 1941–42.
[4][5] According to Thompson, "Because of Vultee's outstanding production achievement, as well as the service's accelerated training programs, the huge pilot requirements were met by mid-1943 and the last Valiants were built in mid-1944.
Except for resonances in various flight modes that earned it the nickname 'Vibrator,' the Valiant's simplicity and effectiveness caused it to be taken for granted, and practically forgotten after all of them were sold at war's end.