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The Consolidated PT-12/ BT-7 was an improved version of the PT-1/ PT-3/ NY family of trainers, but only ten were ordered.
The PT-11 and PT-12 were both versions of the Consolidated Model 21, which was itself based on the PT-3 trainer. The Model 21 had cleaner lines and a new tail, with almost triangular horizontal surfaces and a vertical fin and rudder with a curved top and trailing edge. It was a staggered wing biplane.
The US Army ordered thirty Model 21s as the PT-11. The Navy ordered another four as the N4Y.
The Army also ordered ten Y1PT-12s, which had a more powerful 300hp Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior R-985-1 engine. These were delivered in April-May 1932, before the PT-11Ds, which were delivered in May-July 1932.
The Y1PT-12s became the PT-12 after delivery. They were later redesignated as the Y1BT-7 and finally as the BT-7. One of these aircraft was used by the US Air Attaché in London, Colonel H.M. Turner. It was given the RAF serial number DR629 and remained in use into 1944.
The PT-12 was similar to the Model 21-C, the civil version of the Model 21, although the largest customer for this model was the Mexican Air Force, which ordered ten.