New to me! Fleetwings BT-12 Sophomore

[Michel Lemieux]

It was the first military aircraft to be constructed primarily from welded stainless steel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleetwings_BT-12_Sophomore

[Courier Sportster]

incomplete surviving example continues to not rust in northern ohio, courtesy of the late mr. soplata....

[Jerry O'Neill]

It's not rusting a lot. It's made of stainless steel and still looks just like it did in 1986 when I visited it.

[Michel Lemieux]

Any pics to be seen?

[L-188]

Probably not a lot of people with that listed in their logbook.

[JohnB]

I don't often say it, but that's a new on to me. I've seen their amphibian, but not a BT-type.

Too bad they didn't use them more. It would have been interesting to see how the stainless steel construction held up to the rigors of basic training.

[Scott Rose]

That's a new one to me as well!

[Chris Brame]

I was wondering what the difference in weight would be between the BT-12 and the BT-13; surprisingly they're very close: the BT-12 was 3173 lbs. empty/4497 loaded and the BT-13 was 3375 lbs. empty/4496 loaded.

Lots and lots of info here; note there are quite a few differences between the prototype (Soplata's plane) and the 24 production examples:
http://legendsintheirowntime.com/LiTOT/ ... _draft.pdf

Whoever ends up with this little plane will have their work cut out for them recreating the missing wings...

[Dan K]

That's a new one to me as well!

We took a little look-see at the Soplata XBT-12 about a year ago on this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=55185&hilit=Soplata&start=60

Wingless or not, she needs to be saved...one of those times I wish I didn't already have a project.

[marine air]

The BT-12 has been sold and will be moved from the collection later this summer. I was able to purchase it from the estate and restoration work will start soon.
I’ve rented shop space from an fbo in Lebanon, Tennessee at (M54) . Working out details on the shipping. A plan has been put together to restore it to airworthy standards.

[TAdan]

The BT-12 has been sold and will be moved from the collection later this summer. I was able to purchase it from the estate and restoration work will start soon.
I’ve rented shop space from an fbo in Lebanon, Tennessee at (M54) . Working out details on the shipping. A plan has been put together to restore it to airworthy standards.

Wow, that's great!

[lucky52]

Well, if I hit the lotto jackpot I would certainly offer to help restore what is left of the B-36 fuselage to some sort of display.

[Dan K]

The BT-12 has been sold and will be moved from the collection later this summer. I was able to purchase it from the estate and restoration work will start soon.
I’ve rented shop space from an fbo in Lebanon, Tennessee at (M54) . Working out details on the shipping. A plan has been put together to restore it to airworthy standards.

Kudos!

Be sure to give a shout if/when parts scrounging becomes an issue.

[JohnB]

Marine Air...
Well done!
You'll have to let us know about the challenges encountered in the restoration.
So you expect any issues considering it is steel?

And I predict you'll have the only one at Oshkosh!

[marine air]

Here’s a few of my thoughts on the BT-12. As of today, I have no blueprints, manuals , spare parts of any kind. It’s also missing the outboard wings, and everything firewall forward. This survivor was one of the 25 built. The prototype has stainless steel tubing while the production model reverted to 4130 steel tubing similar to the BT-13, 14, 15. So this one is the prototype. The stainless steel is in excellent but will need to be inspected and all the welds checked, etc.
Fleetwings was a very small manufacturer so my hunch is that many items would’ve came from common suppliers. The tail wheel unit has a lot of steel tubing and the steel on the airplane is in very poor shape. There’s not much steel on it and no wooden components.
Firewall forward is missing. However, typically the engine manufacturers took over the design process . It had a Pratt & Whitney R-985AN-1 engine with a Hamilton Standard prop. Very similar or identical to firewall forward on the BT-13, Staggerwing, Howard DGA, Beech 18, Lockheed 12A, etc. So we will figure it out. The landing gear is all there but the wheel fairings are long gone.
I have some mechanics lined up to help get it loaded. I also talked to someone that has a complete set of manuals. This is crucial to doing an accurate restoration. All avionics, radios, hydraulics, etc are missing.
I will be asking for help from the “WIX brain trusts “ and appreciate any help and advice. Thanks