STEP BACK IN HISTORY - BE A 1942 AVIATION CADET!
Contributed by Col Suellyn Wright Novak, Col Hunt AK Wing, CAF
Dream of being a pilot and climbing high in the Wild Blue Yonder? Well in Anchorage you can give wing to that fantasy in the back seat of a 1942 basic trainer, the Col Hunt Alaska Wing of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) BT-13 Valiant.
This aircraft was the basic trainer for the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) and the Navy, with when production ceased in 1944, about11,537 Valiants had been built.
Pilot candidates transitioned from the primary trainer, the PT-19, to the basic trainer BT-13, before moving on to the advanced trainer, the AT-6 Texan. The Col Hunt AK Wing hopes to soon have one of those so that we have two aircraft to perform at air shows and give rides. The BT-13 features all metal construction, two-way radios, landing flaps and a two-position controllable-pitch prop. It is a low-wing monoplane with a conventional landing gear configuration and a tail wheel (hence nickname "taildragger"). It has an enclosed cockpit for instructor and cadet in tandem. It is a rugged and reliable aircraft, just right for student use. The plane was nicknamed "the Vultee (manufacturer) Vibrator for its characteristic of shaking violently as it approached stall speed. Today less than 50 remain airworthy and ours is the only known BT-13 in Alaska. It is powered by a 450 hp Pratt & Whitney R-985 AN-1 Wasp Junior radial engine, with a maximum speed of 180 mph.
Our BT-13 was restored by Col Howard "Mike" Hunt, along with four partners and a few hired mechanics. The reconstruction work began in the late 1990s out of a hangar at the Nut Tree Airport in Vacaville CA, taking five years and over $50,000. Once complete, it flew in local CA air shows until Col Hunt bought it outright and decided to bring it to Alaska, where he was living. One of our founding CAF Colonels, Ed Kornfield, flew it from CA to AK, taking six days. In 2013, Col Hunt donated this bird to the Alaska Wing, which now bears his name.
The Col Hunt Alaska Wing's BT-13, with a 1942 tail number, is maintained and operated through the generosity and dedication of our volunteer members. You can be one of us!
A thirty-minute ride is $325, and an hour ride is $600, flying from Merrill Field on most Saturdays May-first part of October (weather dependent.
We need pilots, mechanics and support personnel to preserve history and keep our birds flying to honor all those who served in WW II. We meet the second Thursday of each month at Wings of Freedom Hanger on Merrill Field at 6 PM for a short business meeting, before enjoying a potluck and doing a lot of hangers flying. Come become one of us!! Contact Col Suellyn Wright Novak, Wing Executive Officer, at 907-863-0569 and leave me a message. I'll love talking with you!