Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing
The Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing is an American cabin biplane built by the Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. Its upper wing sits behind the lower one — the negative stagger that gave the type its name — and with retractable landing gear and a powerful radial engine it was faster than most military aircraft when it first flew in 1932. Sold as a fast executive transport and raced successfully in the 1930s, it served in the Second World War as the UC-43, GB and Traveller; 785 were built before the last was delivered in 1949.
Why It Mattered
The Model 17 was the first aircraft produced by the Beech Aircraft Corporation, which Walter Beech founded in Wichita, Kansas, in 1932. It was a fast, expensive cabin biplane aimed at business executives, launched in the depths of the Depression. First flown on 4 November 1932, the Staggerwing exceeded 200 mph — quicker than most military aircraft then in service. It was also a successful racing aircraft, winning the Bendix Trophy in 1936. Its pronounced negative stagger made it, in the National Air and Space Museum's words, one of the most recognizable aircraft of the 1930s.
Design Notes
The type took its name from its wing arrangement: the upper wing is set behind the lower wing, a negative stagger that the Smithsonian calls pronounced. The arrangement was meant to give the pilot a better view and to reduce interference drag between the wings, though the drag benefit was later found to be negligible. The fuselage was a welded steel-tube frame faired with wood formers and stringers and covered in fabric, and the cabin was trimmed in leather, mohair and mahogany. Its retractable landing gear was uncommon in 1932, and with larger engines and aerodynamic changes the aircraft cruised at 200 mph by 1939. The mid-1930s D17 redesign lengthened the fuselage and moved the ailerons to the upper wings, clear of the flaps.
Operational History
Sales started slowly in the Depression: only 18 Model 17s were sold in 1933, the first year of production, and each Staggerwing was custom-built by hand. Sales grew steadily, and by the start of the Second World War Beechcraft had sold more than 424. Racers took to the type early: an early Model 17 won the 1933 Texaco Trophy Race, and in a C17R, the 1936 Bendix Trophy went to Louise Thaden and Blanche Noyes. A few served abroad before the war, including as bombers for Republican forces in the Spanish Civil War. During the Second World War the Staggerwing served with the United States Army Air Forces as the UC-43 and the Navy as the GB, and with the British Royal Air Force as the Traveller. The two services purchased 260 aircraft and also took over as many privately owned examples as they could obtain. Beech offered the G17S after the war as the last production version; the final aircraft was sold in 1948 and delivered in 1949.
Afterlife
Beechcraft built 785 Staggerwings over a 15-year production run. The type's place in the Beech line was taken by the V-tail Bonanza, a smaller monoplane that carried four people at a similar speed for about a third of the price. The type's racing career had a late echo in 1970, when five Staggerwings flew a demonstration race at the Reno National Air Races. Smithsonian magazine reported in 2009 that about 200 Staggerwings remained and were regarded as flying works of art, and that a rare G model in mint condition could fetch perhaps $525,000.