User:NiD.29/North American BT-14

The North American BT-14 (North American charge number NA-58) was a low-wing single piston engine monoplane basic trainer aircraft with fixed undercarriage, built for the United States Army Air Corps, and then used by the United States Army Air Forces during World War II as an intermediary between primary trainers such as the Stearman PT-13 and advanced trainers such as the North American AT-6. It was a development of the previous North American BT-9 series of trainers.

Design and development
North American modified a stock BT-9B basic trainer, s/n 37-208 in an effort to cure stall problems with new outer wing panels, a 14" longer rear fuselage, a larger tailplane, a longer nose and a new "Harvard" style canopy to make the BT-9D, which the Army Air Corps ordered 250 as the BT-14. It retained the BT-9s fabric covered fuselage, which would be replaced by an all metal fuselage on the production aircraft, while the forward fuselage had removable metal panels over a steel tube structure, and the rear fuselage was a semi-monococque and lacked the tube structure used on the BT-9. The prototype was later redesignated the YBT-14.

Approximately 27 BT-14s were re-engined during routine overhauls, with the more common but slightly less powerful Pratt and Whitney R-985-11A, and were redesignated as the BT-14A.

Further production might have occurred however North American was both heavily committed with AT-6 Texan production, as well as other types, and the Vultee BT-13 was less expensive.

Flying Training
When the BT-14 first entered service, the US Army Air Corps main training facility was at Randolph Field in Texas, and the BT-14 remains strongly associated with that airfield. Facilities there were not adequate for the greatly increased wartime needs and additional basic training facilities were set up around the country, with the Vultee BT-13 being built in large numbers to fill most of the need while small numbers of North American BT-14s were used by "School Squadrons" around the country. In 1943, the United States Army Air Forces reorganized its training units, placing them under the command of the local bases rather than being attached to higher organizations, while transferring both Basic training activities and the BT-14s from Randolph Field to the newly created Independence Army Airfield, in Independence, Kansas, where they continued to be used intensively until nearly the end of the war. Randolph Field's focus was then limited to primarily training flight instructors.

Squadron Hacks
Small numbers of BT-14s were attached to many different squadrons, including pursuit/fighter squadrons, bomber squadrons and headquarter squadrons, as hacks, or light personnel transports. Most were used within the continental US.

Civil Use
A single BT-14 survived long enough to make it onto the civil register, 58-1692/40-1147 NL37604, which was registered in 1948 and was still registered in late 1955.

Operators
🇺🇸
 * United States Army Air Corps/United States Army Air Forces
 * Operational Units
 * A large number of operational units operated BT-14s in small numbers.

<!--::Pursuit Squadrons
 * 2nd Pursuit Squadron (2PS), 52nd Pursuit Group (52PG)
 * 38th Pursuit Squadron (38PS), 55th Pursuit Group (55PG)
 * 48th Pursuit Squadron (48PS), 14th Pursuit Group (14PG)
 * 69th Pursuit Squadron (69PS), 58th Pursuit Group (58PG)
 * 77th Pursuit Squadron (77PS), 20th Pursuit Group (20PG)
 * 86th Pursuit Squadron (86PS), 20th Pursuit Group (20PG)


 * Fighter Squadrons (same as Pursuit Squadrons but renamed in 1941)
 * 10th Fighter Squadron (10FS), 50th Fighter Group (50FG)
 * 14th Fighter Squadron (14FS), 53rd Fighter Group (53FG)
 * 21st Fighter Squadron (21FS), 352nd Fighter Group (352FG)
 * 58th Fighter Squadron (58FS), 33rd Fighter Group (33FG)
 * 62nd Fighter Squadron (62FS), 56th Fighter Group (56FG)
 * 79th Fighter Squadron (79FS), 20th Fighter Group (20FG)
 * 82nd Fighter Squadron (82FS), 78th Fighter Group (78FG)
 * 86th Fighter Squadron (86FS), 79th Fighter Group (79FG)
 * 99th Fighter Squadron (99FS), TAFS
 * 305th Fighter Squadron (305FS), 338 Fighter Group (338FG)
 * 329th Fighter Squadron (329FS), 328th Fighter Group (328FG)
 * 331st Fighter Squadron (311FS), 58th Fighter Group (58FG)
 * 331st Fighter Squadron (331FS), 329th Fighter Group (329FG)
 * 337th Fighter Squadron (337FS), 329th Fighter Group (329FG)
 * 351st Fighter Squadron (351FS), 353rd Fighter Group (353FG)
 * 389th Fighter Squadron (389FS), 366th Fighter Group (366FG)
 * 438th Fighter Squadron (438FS), 53rd Fighter Group (53FG)
 * 439th Fighter Squadron (439FS), 338th Fighter Group (338FG)


 * Bomber Squadrons
 * 5th Bombardment Squadron (5BS), 9th Bombardment Group (9BG) (Training)
 * 9th Bombardment Squadron (9BS), 7th Bombardment Group (7BG) (Operational)
 * 16th Bombardment Squadron (16BS), 27th Bombardment Group (27BG) (Operational)
 * 17th Bombardment Squadron (17BS), 27th Bombardment Group (27BG) (Operational)
 * 20th Bombardment Squadron (20BS) (Operational)
 * 32nd Bombardment Squadron (32BS), 19th Bombardment Group
 * 33rd Bombardment Squadron (33BS) (Operational)
 * 35th Bombardment Squadron (35BS) (Operational)
 * 49th Bombardment Squadron (49BS) (Operational)
 * 52nd Bombardment Squadron (52BS) (Training)
 * 96th Bombardment Squadron (96BS) (Operational)


 * Headquarters and Base Units
 * 20BH, 2BH
 * 42nd Air Base Squadron (42ABS) Dale Mabry Field, FL
 * 49BH, 2BH
 * 93BH 19BH
 * HqSq 	Drew Field, FL
 * HqSq 1BC	Mitchel Field, NY
 * HqSq 54PG	Harding Field, LA
 * HqSq 2BG	Langley Field, VA
 * HqSq 27BG	Barksdale Field, LA
 * HqSq 3BG	Savannah AB, GA
 * HqSq 98BG	Barksdale Field, LA -->


 * Training Units (by Airfield/Location/Command)
 * Goodfellow Field
 * 68th School Squadron (68SS)
 * 80th School Squadron (80SS)
 * Gunter Field
 * 80th School Squadron (80SS)
 * Independence Army Airfield (1942-1945)
 * 51st Bomber/Fighter Training Group
 * 509th Bomber/Fighter Training Squadron (509BFTS)
 * 2524th Base Unit (2524BU)


 * Maxwell Field
 * 82nd School Squadron (82SS)
 * 86th School Squadron (86SS)
 * Randolph Field (1940-1943)
 * 43rd School Squadron (43SS)
 * 45th School Squadron (45SS)
 * 46th School Squadron (46SS)
 * 52nd School Squadron (52SS)
 * 53rd School Squadron (53SS)
 * 734th Bomber/Fighter Training Squadron (734BFTS)
 * San Angelo Army Air Field
 * 49th School Squadron (49SS)
 * 68th School Squadron (68SS)
 * Central Flying Training Command
 * Various units

Variants

 * BT-9D: 1 BT-9B AAC s/n 37-208 modified as prototype.
 * YBT-14: redesignated BT-9D.
 * BT-14-NA: 250 built c/n 58-1655 to 58-1905 /AAC s/n 40-1110 to 40-1360
 * BT-14A-NA: ~27 modified from BT-14s with 400hp Pratt and Whitney R-985-11A

Survivors/Aircraft on display
There are no known surviving BT-14's, however the similar NA-64 Yale survived in relatively large numbers, and a number of these have been painted or modified to represent BT-14s.