Help us save "Annie" our BT13
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A couple of months ago, our Vultee Valiant BT-13, affectionately known as "Annie", was involved in an accident, which resulted in some damage to the aircraft. Annie's engine lost power on takeoff at around 100 feet above the ground and by some very quick thinking the pilots were able to get her back on the ground, however they ran out of room to get her stopped, which is what caused the damage. Thankfully, no one was hurt besides Annie; she did exactly what she was designed during WW2 to do and kept her human occupants safe.
We've been working with the insurance company and a repair facility on a quote to repair her damage. Sadly, at this point, the insurance company has decided to call her a total loss as the they are not familiar with warbirds. The one saving grace is that we have the option to buy her back from the insurance company and get her repaired ourselves.
Due to some very complicated circumstances, if she is to be saved from an uncertain fate, the duty has fallen on me and I am accepting the call to save her.
This airplane has been involved in so many outreach activities and our mission with her has always been to make sure that folks in the community can not only see her at shows, but can come over the rope to climb up on the wing walk, sit in the pilots seat and have the chance to see up close what our brave young men and women saw during WW2. Annie has always been a huge hit wherever we take her and the stories that can be told of peoples lives she has touched are countless.
My good friend Alex has some comments below on his activities with the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) Museum and the several flights he has done with WASP veteran pilots.
In the three years of flying 41-21218, I have focused the vast majority of it on sharing with others the era that she represents. With well over a dozen official air shows and fly ins all over Northern California, this BT-13 has provided people of all ages a unique and close up insight into WW2 aviation and what it was like for US pilots of that time frame to earn their wings. While all visitors have been welcome into the cockpit, it has been a special joy to share the experience with descendants of those pilots that had trained in the Vultee Valiant. On occasion, she has been blessed to receive a visit from those pilots themselves, and each of them were extended a standing invite for a free return to the skies ride in the aircraft. Even when not attending an event, she has piqued interest wherever she goes, drawing curious onlookers by her side, full of questions that only an aircraft like her can truly answer.
But my personal main mission for 41-21218's has been to support veterans of the Women Airforce Service Pilots and their family members. In 2015, at the behest of individuals in Sweetwater TX, she undertook a 2500nm trek across the country to Avenger Field to attend their annual reunion, where she provided the first chance for many of the attending thirteen aviatrixes the opportunity to reunite with an old friend, and at least one took the aforementioned invitation to actually fly in her. I was fortunate enough to find another WASP veteran in my area in 2018, and she was afforded the same experience. In between, during her attendance of events, she has served as the centerpiece in a WASP-themed exhibit, where the history of these wonderful and highly capable women aviators has been shared with the public.
Upon restoration, 41-21218 will continue these missions. -Alex Esguerra
I have been a part of Annie's life for a few years now and in that time I have worked hard to provide education opportunities to young folks interested in aviation. She has been a part of a 7th graders STEM project regarding aeronautics and women in aviation, she has taken an 8th grade civil air patrol cadet under her wing and has provided him the opportunity to get involved with her care and maintenance as well as to fly. She has captured the imagination of all four of my children who all refer to her as if she is part of our family, and all four of them have had the chance to fly her as well. I have had the pleasure of spending a day in the shade under her wing with a B24 veteran pilot from WW2 who shared with me some wonderful memories of training in the BT13 during the war. She has flown to support dedication ceremonies for fallen soldiers and has provided flights for soldiers returning home from our current conflicts. I even proposed to my wife while flying down the coast in Annie.
We have received a tremendous outpouring of support from the community and I am confident that I will be able to get her repaired and back in the air again. I have the support of some highly experienced warbird folks on my side to help me along the way. Below are some of the organizations that have offered to provide support to this effort.
Greg Ely, Retired Educator, Warbird Restorer, Trustee and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Oakland Aviation Museum
Bob Swanson, Warbird Historian, Former Member of the Confederate Air Force and Contributing Maintainer at the Oakland Aviation Museum
The National WASP WWII Museum in Sweetwater Texas
The Oakland Aviation Museum
I have the skills, support and a place to rebuild her. I need some help to pull together some funds quickly to get her purchased back from the insurance company before she is sent to the scrapper. If we are successful we will be starting a VLOG (Video Log) that will document our progress, I will be providing some incentives to those that donate to the fund. This will range from custom made patches, shirts and sweaters, to rides in the plane after she is finished all the way up to having your name added to the list of crew members that will be stenciled on the plane permanently after we are finished.
Our hope is to save her so we can continue to provide the amazing outreach to the community that we have been doing over the years. We want to continue to allow people the opportunity to get up close and personal with her and to have the chance to, as was so eloquently said by my very good friend that taught me how to fly her, "Fly with Ghosts". The education and opportunities that she can provide to the public are priceless as there are very few of these airplanes left in the world and even fewer caretakers willing to share history in this way. Please help us to save this amazing, vibrant and wonderful old gal that has touched so many hearts. She deserves to fly again.
-Taurus
We've been working with the insurance company and a repair facility on a quote to repair her damage. Sadly, at this point, the insurance company has decided to call her a total loss as the they are not familiar with warbirds. The one saving grace is that we have the option to buy her back from the insurance company and get her repaired ourselves.
Due to some very complicated circumstances, if she is to be saved from an uncertain fate, the duty has fallen on me and I am accepting the call to save her.
This airplane has been involved in so many outreach activities and our mission with her has always been to make sure that folks in the community can not only see her at shows, but can come over the rope to climb up on the wing walk, sit in the pilots seat and have the chance to see up close what our brave young men and women saw during WW2. Annie has always been a huge hit wherever we take her and the stories that can be told of peoples lives she has touched are countless.
My good friend Alex has some comments below on his activities with the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) Museum and the several flights he has done with WASP veteran pilots.
In the three years of flying 41-21218, I have focused the vast majority of it on sharing with others the era that she represents. With well over a dozen official air shows and fly ins all over Northern California, this BT-13 has provided people of all ages a unique and close up insight into WW2 aviation and what it was like for US pilots of that time frame to earn their wings. While all visitors have been welcome into the cockpit, it has been a special joy to share the experience with descendants of those pilots that had trained in the Vultee Valiant. On occasion, she has been blessed to receive a visit from those pilots themselves, and each of them were extended a standing invite for a free return to the skies ride in the aircraft. Even when not attending an event, she has piqued interest wherever she goes, drawing curious onlookers by her side, full of questions that only an aircraft like her can truly answer.
But my personal main mission for 41-21218's has been to support veterans of the Women Airforce Service Pilots and their family members. In 2015, at the behest of individuals in Sweetwater TX, she undertook a 2500nm trek across the country to Avenger Field to attend their annual reunion, where she provided the first chance for many of the attending thirteen aviatrixes the opportunity to reunite with an old friend, and at least one took the aforementioned invitation to actually fly in her. I was fortunate enough to find another WASP veteran in my area in 2018, and she was afforded the same experience. In between, during her attendance of events, she has served as the centerpiece in a WASP-themed exhibit, where the history of these wonderful and highly capable women aviators has been shared with the public.
Upon restoration, 41-21218 will continue these missions. -Alex Esguerra
I have been a part of Annie's life for a few years now and in that time I have worked hard to provide education opportunities to young folks interested in aviation. She has been a part of a 7th graders STEM project regarding aeronautics and women in aviation, she has taken an 8th grade civil air patrol cadet under her wing and has provided him the opportunity to get involved with her care and maintenance as well as to fly. She has captured the imagination of all four of my children who all refer to her as if she is part of our family, and all four of them have had the chance to fly her as well. I have had the pleasure of spending a day in the shade under her wing with a B24 veteran pilot from WW2 who shared with me some wonderful memories of training in the BT13 during the war. She has flown to support dedication ceremonies for fallen soldiers and has provided flights for soldiers returning home from our current conflicts. I even proposed to my wife while flying down the coast in Annie.
We have received a tremendous outpouring of support from the community and I am confident that I will be able to get her repaired and back in the air again. I have the support of some highly experienced warbird folks on my side to help me along the way. Below are some of the organizations that have offered to provide support to this effort.
Greg Ely, Retired Educator, Warbird Restorer, Trustee and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Oakland Aviation Museum
Bob Swanson, Warbird Historian, Former Member of the Confederate Air Force and Contributing Maintainer at the Oakland Aviation Museum
The National WASP WWII Museum in Sweetwater Texas
The Oakland Aviation Museum
I have the skills, support and a place to rebuild her. I need some help to pull together some funds quickly to get her purchased back from the insurance company before she is sent to the scrapper. If we are successful we will be starting a VLOG (Video Log) that will document our progress, I will be providing some incentives to those that donate to the fund. This will range from custom made patches, shirts and sweaters, to rides in the plane after she is finished all the way up to having your name added to the list of crew members that will be stenciled on the plane permanently after we are finished.
Our hope is to save her so we can continue to provide the amazing outreach to the community that we have been doing over the years. We want to continue to allow people the opportunity to get up close and personal with her and to have the chance to, as was so eloquently said by my very good friend that taught me how to fly her, "Fly with Ghosts". The education and opportunities that she can provide to the public are priceless as there are very few of these airplanes left in the world and even fewer caretakers willing to share history in this way. Please help us to save this amazing, vibrant and wonderful old gal that has touched so many hearts. She deserves to fly again.
-Taurus
Organizer
Taurus Fey
Organizer
Turlock, CA