Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing

At the height of the Great Depression, aircraft executive Walter H. Beech and airplane designer Ted A. Wells joined forces to collaborate on a project to produce a large, powerful, and fast cabin biplane built specifically for the business executive. The Beechcraft Model 17, popularly known as the "Staggerwing", was first flown on November 4, 1932. During its heyday, it was used as an executive aircraft, much as the private jet is now, and its primary competition were the Waco Custom Cabin and Waco Standard Cabin series of biplanes.

The Model 17's unusual negative stagger wing configuration (the upper wing staggered behind the lower) and unique shape maximized pilot visibility and was intended to reduce interference drag between the wings (although it was later found to have negligible effect).[1] The fabric-covered fuselage was faired with wood formers and stringers over a welded, steel tube frame.[1] Construction was complex and took many man-hours to complete. The Staggerwing's retractable conventional landing gear, uncommon at that time, combined with careful streamlining, light weight, and a powerful radial engine, helped it perform well.

In the mid-1930s, Beech undertook a major redesign of the aircraft, to create the Model D17 Staggerwing. The D17 featured a lengthened fuselage that improved the aircraft's handling characteristics by increasing control leverage, and the ailerons were relocated to the upper wings, eliminating interference with the flaps. Braking was improved with a foot-operated brake linked to the rudder pedals.

Between April 1936 through May 1940 there were six Model 17 fatal accidents involving midair breakups that were attributed to weather conditions and structural failures, later determined to be caused by flutter of the ailerons and wings. The CAA Bureau of Safety Regulation initially issued an edict to restrict maximum airspeed and instrument flight, which was later replaced by a safety bulletin requiring lead balance weights to be added to the ailerons and flaps, and plywood panels to the outboard portion of the wings to increase torsional stiffness of the wing tip section.[2]

Sales began slowly. The first Staggerwings' high price tag (between US$14,000 and $17,000, depending on engine size) scared off potential buyers in an already depressed civil aircraft market. Only 18 Model 17s were sold during 1933, the first year of production, but sales steadily increased. Each Staggerwing was custom-built by hand. The luxurious cabin, trimmed in leather and mohair, held up to five passengers. Eventually, the Staggerwing captured a substantial share of the passenger aircraft market. By the start of World War II, Beechcraft had sold more than 424 Model 17s.

Air racing

1937 advertisement for the Model 17 Beech Staggerwing

The Staggerwing's speed made it popular with 1930s air racers. An early version of the Model 17 won the 1933 Texaco Trophy Race. In 1935, a British diplomat, Capt. H.L. Farquhar, successfully flew around the world in a Model B17R, traveling 21,332 miles (34,331 kilometers) from New York to London, by way of Siberia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and back across Europe.

Louise Thaden and Blanche Noyes won the 1936 Bendix trophy in a Model C17R Staggerwing. Thaden also won the Harmon Trophy for her achievement. Jackie Cochran set a women's speed record of 203.9 mph (328 km/h), established an altitude record of over 30,000 feet (9,144 m), and finished third in the 1937 Bendix Trophy Race, all in a special Model D17W Staggerwing. The aircraft made an impressive showing in the 1938 Bendix race, as well.

In 1970, due to a dispute with the T-6 racing class, the Reno National Air Races invited five Staggerwings to perform a demonstration race. Two G models and two D17 models raced. The five pilots were Bryant Morris, Bert Jensen, Don Clark, Noel Gourselle, and Phil Livingston, the only pilot to have prior racing experience in the T-6 class. The race was flawless, with ABC Wide World of Sports coverage, but protesting T-6 racers prevented the class from future competition with allegations of safety issues.

World War II

As World War II loomed, a number of Model B17Ls were pressed into service as bombers by the FARE, the air forces of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. China ordered a number of Staggerwings to use as ambulance planes in its fight against Imperial Japan. Finland had one C17L as a liaison aircraft between 1940 and 1945.[3] On October 2, 1941, Beech shipped a special camouflaged D17S to Prince Bernhard of Lippe, who was in exile in London after the German invasion of the Netherlands. He used it for refugee work in and around London.

YC-43 Traveler

The Beech UC-43 Traveler was a slightly modified version of the Staggerwing. In late 1938, the United States Army Air Corps purchased three Model D17Ss to evaluate them for use as light liaison aircraft. These were designated YC-43 (Y designating a development aircraft or non-standard type, C standing for Cargo). After a short flight test program, the YC-43s went to Europe to serve as liaison aircraft with the air attachés in London, Paris, and Rome.

Early in World War II, the need for a compact executive-type transport or courier aircraft became apparent, and in 1942, the United States Army Air Forces ordered the first of 270 Model 17s for service within the United States and overseas as the UC-43 (USAAF designation for Utility, Cargo). These differed only in minor details from the commercial model. To meet urgent wartime needs, the government also purchased or leased (impressed) additional "Staggerwings" from private owners, including 118 more for the Army Air Force plus others for the United States Navy. In Navy service, the planes were designated as GB-1 and GB-2 (under USN designating convention signifying General (purpose), Beech, 1st or 2nd variant of type). The British Royal Air Force and Royal Navy acquired 106 "Traveller Mk. I" (the British name uses the UK double "l" spelling) through the Lend-Lease arrangement to fill its own critical need for light personnel transports.

The production UC-43 differed in minor details from the service test YC-43. Two distinguishing external features of the UC-43 are the circular automatic direction finder antennae mounted between the main landing gear and landing lights near the lower wingtips. They were all powered by the 450 horsepower (336 kilowatt) Pratt & Whitney R-985 engine.

17

Fixed gear prototype made first flight on November 4, 1932.[6]

By 1934, Beechcraft had designed and built four models. They were the 17R (420 hp Wright engine); the A17F (690 hp Wright engine); the A17FS (710 hp Wright engine); and the B17L (225 hp Jacobs engine). All were fixed gear models with the exception of the B17L, which had a pneumatically retractable undercarriage. Of the three models, the B17L proved best suited to meet the market demands, and became the first production model.

B17

First production model, manufactured from March 1934 to March 1936.

B17B

285 hp (213 kW) Jacobs L-5 engine. One built 1934.[7]

B17E

285 hp (213 kW) Wright R-760-E1 engine. Four built from 1935.[8]

B17L

225 hp (168 kW) Jacobs L-4 engine. 48 built.[9]

SB17L

B17L fitted with floats. One built.[9]

B17R

425 hp (317 kW) Wright R-975-E2/E3 engine. 16 built from 1935.[9]

C17

Manufactured from March 1936 to March 1937.

C17B

285 hp (213 kW) Jacobs L-5 engine. 40 built.[9]

SC17B

Floatplane version of C17B - One built.[9]

C17E

285 hp (213 kW) Wright R-760-E1.[9]

C17L

225 hp (168 kW) Jacobs L-4 engine. Six built.[10]

C17R

420 hp (310 kW) Wright R-975-E2/E3 engine. 16 built.[10]

SC17R

Floatplane C17R. One built.[10]

D17

Manufactured from March 1937 to 1945 (All were military models after 1941).

D17A

350 hp (260 kW) Wright R-760-E2. 10 built.[10]

D17R

420 hp (310 kW) Wright R-975-E3 engine. 27 built.[11]

D17S

450 hp (340 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985-SB Wasp Junior. 23 built.[12]

SD17S

Floatplane version of D17S.[12]

D17W

600 hp (450 kW) geared and supercharged Pratt & Whitney R-985-SC-G Wasp Junior. Two built.[12]

E17

Manufactured from March 1937 to 1941.

F17

Manufactured from April 1938 to 1941.

G17

Manufactured from 1946 to 1948.

Tachikawa-Beechcraft C17E Light Transport

20 built in licence production in Japan by Tachikawa, plus two assembled from imported parts for Dai Nihon Koku KK. Manshu, Chuka Koku and agencies such as provincial police headquarters.

Military designations

YC-43 (S/N 39-139) assigned to the American Embassy in London, England

YC-43

Three Model D17S with a 450hp R-985-17 engine for evaluation by the United States Army Air Corps

UC-43 s/n 43-10859

UC-43 Traveler

Production version with a 450hp R-985-AN-1 engine, 75 ordered for the Army Air Corps and 63 for the United States Navy as the GB-1, 132 were later transferred from the Navy to the Army Air Corps.

UC-43A

Model D17R with 440hp R-975-11 engine, 13 impressed into service.

UC-43B

Model D17S with 450hp R-985-17 engine, 13 impressed into service.

UC-43C

Model F17D with 300hp R-915-1 engine, 37 impressed into service.

UC-43D

Model E17B with 285hp R-830-1 engine, 31 impressed into service.

UC-43E

Model C17R with 440hp R-975-11 engine, five impressed into service.

UC-43F

Model D17A with 350hp R-975-3 engine, one impressed into service.

UC-43G

Model C17B with 285hp R-830-1 engine, 10 impressed into service.

UC-43H

Model B17R with 440hp R-975-11 engine, three impressed into service.

UC-43J

Model C17L with 225hp R-755-1 engine, three impressed into service.

UC-43K

Model D17W, one impressed into service. This aircraft was originally built in 1937 for famed aviator Jacqueline Cochran. Cochran flew the plane in the 1937 Bendix cross-country race and placed first in the Women's Division and 3rd overall. She also set a Women's National Speed Record of 203.895 miles per hour using the plane.

A GB-1 Traveler

GB-1

United States Navy transport version of the D17, ten bought in 1939 and ten impressed into USN service.

GB-2

USN version as GB-1 but with a 450hp R-985-50 or R-985-AN-1 engine, 271 built, 132 later transferred to USAAF as UC-43s. Also additional aircraft from a cancelled British contract and impressed aircraft.

JB-1

One Model C17R as an executive transport for the United States Navy.

Traveller I

British designation for the former US Embassy in London's YC-43 and 107 UC-43 and GB-2 aircraft delivered mainly for the Royal Navy.

Brazil

• 6691 – D17S on static display at the Museu Aeroespacial in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[15][16]

United States

• 1 – 17R on display at the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee. This airframe is the prototype Model 17.[17]
• 21 – B17L on display at the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee.[17]
• 93 – C17L on static display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. It was built as a C17B and originally owned by Buzz Aldrin's father.[18]
• 100 – C17B on display at the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee.[17]
• 231 – E17B on display at the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee.[17]
• 257 – F17D on display at the Mid-America Air Museum in Liberal, Kansas.[19]
• 305 – D17A on static display at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. This airframe was impressed into service during World War II as UC-43F 42-49071.[20][21]
• 333 – F17D on display at the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee.[17]
• 395 – D17S on display at the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee.[17]
• 2012 - D17S on display inside at the Clarksville Regional Airport and Jet Center at Clarksville, Tennessee.
• 4835 – D17S on display at the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee.[17]
• 4890 – UC-43 on display at the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California. It has the USAAF serial number 43-10842. It was the museum's first aircraft and bears the seal of the U.S. Ambassador to London.[22][23]
• 6700 – GB-2 on static display at the National Naval Aviation Museum at Naval Air Station Pensacola near Pensacola, Florida. It has the US Navy Bureau Number 23688.[24][25]
• 6880 – UC-43 on display at the Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida.[26][27]
• 6897 – D17S on display at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston, Texas.[28] Registration N666TX.
• 6913 – GB-2 on static display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. It is painted as UC-43 39-139.[29][30]
• B-3 – G17S on display at the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee.[17]
• B-7 – G17S on display at the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee.[17]

The Fighter Collection's Staggerwing, G-BRVE, in 2003

Many Staggerwings remain registered with the FAA in flyable condition, or undergoing restoration. Several military versions are on display.

Canada

• 403 – D17S in storage at the Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, Alberta.[31]
• 4874 – D17S airworthy with Mark Hyderman of Edmonton, Alberta. It was previously owned by Vintage Wings of Canada in Gatineau, Quebec.[32][33][34][35]

United Kingdom

• 4803 – D17S airworthy at Old Buckenham Airport in Norwich, Norfolk.[36][37]
• 6701 – D17S airworthy at The Fighter Collection in Duxford, Cambridgeshire. It was built in 1943 as a US Navy model GB-2. It was shipped to the UK and flown by Royal Navy's 782 Naval Air Squadron as Traveller Mk.I FT475. Postwar, it was returned to the US and flown by the US Air Force before passing into private hands. It came back to the UK in 1990 and has since flown with several owners under the UK registration G-BRVE.[38][39]

United States

• 102/110 – C17B airworthy with Christine M. St. Onge of Wexford, Pennsylvania.[40][41] It is operated out of Grove City Airport in Grove City, Pennsylvania. The aircraft is painted in the colors and scheme used by Blanche Noyes and Louise Thaden for the 1936 Bendix Air Race.
• 198 – UC-43D airworthy at the Frontiers of Flight Museum in Dallas, Texas.[42][43]
• 3098 – D17S airworthy at the Legacy Flight Museum in Rexburg, Idaho.[44][45]
• 6704 – UC-43 airworthy at the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo, New York.[46][47][48]
• 6914 – D17S airworthy at the Historic Flight Foundation in Mukilteo, Washington.[49][50]
• TBD – TBD airworthy at the Museum of Flying in Santa Monica, California.

Beechcraft Model D17S was designated YC-43 by the US Army Air Corps and used as liaison aircraft for the US Air Attachés in London, Paris and Rome

Data from Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II[51]

General characteristics

• Crew: one
• Capacity: 125 lb (56.7 kg) baggage and three passengers
• Length: 26 ft 10 in (8.18 m)
• Wingspan: 32 ft (9.8 m)
• Height: 8 ft (2.4 m)
• Wing area: 296.5 sq ft (27.55 m²)
• Empty weight: 2,540 lb (1,152 kg)
• Gross weight: 4,250 lb (1,928 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-1 "Wasp Junior" radial engine, 450 hp (340 kW) at 2,300 rpm

Performance

• Maximum speed: 212 mph (341 km/h, 184 kn)
• Cruise speed: 202 mph (325 km/h, 176 kn)
• Range: 670 mi (1,078 km, 582 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 25,000 ft (7,600 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,500 ft/min (7.6 m/s)
• Wing loading: 14.3 lb/sq ft (70 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 9.44 lb/hp (5.68 kg/kW)

• Griffon Lionheart

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Howard DGA-15
• Spartan Executive

Related lists

• List of aircraft of the Spanish Republican Air Force
• List of aircraft of World War II
• Military transport aircraft

Notes

Bibliography

• Guillemette, Roger. "Beech Model 17 Staggerwing". U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. Archived from the original on December 14, 2005. Retrieved January 6, 2006.
• "Cargo Aircraft Virtual Gallery; World War II era Development- Part I". National Museum of the United States Air Force. Archived from the original on November 28, 2005. Retrieved January 6, 2006.
• Pelletier, A. J. (1995). Beech Aircraft and their Predecessors. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-062-2.
• Phillips, Edward H. (1996). The Staggerwing Story. Flying Books International. ISBN 0-911139-27-3.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Beechcraft Staggerwing.

• Beechcraft Heritage Museum