One of the world’s classic aircraft, the distinctive-looking Model 17 first flew in 1932, with production models available for sale in 1934. At a time when many military fighters featured open cockpits and fixed landing gear, the Model 17 had a fully enclosed cabin and retractable landing gear, making it one of the more advanced biplanes to ever fly. However, the most noteworthy trait was the negative stagger placement of the wings, where the leading edge of the lower wing was ahead of the leading edge of the upper wing. While this was not new (a few WWI fighters had used it), it became most associated with the Model 17. Such a design was not merely for appearance – visibility was improved over conventional biplanes (comparable to that of monoplanes), the pilot had better warning of a stall and wing-located retractable landing gear could be installed. However, the planes were somewhat tricky to land (especially the early versions), but the plane was considered a delight to fly.
The plane was in production from 1934 to 1948 and put Beech Corporation on the map. Some 781 Staggerwings were built, approximately 424 before the war and 270 during it. Several hundred are still flying today (albeit with new engines and modern avionics). A very small number were used as improvised light bombers in the Spanish Civil War and numbers were used in China as flying ambulances. However, most Staggerwings used in military service were executive transports.
The D-17L uses 15 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at routine usage.
Subassemblies: Heavy Fighter chassis +2, Recon Wings with Biplane
option+2, three retractable wheels +0.
Powertrain: 336-kW aerial HP gasoline engine with 336-kW prop
and 54-gallon self-sealing fuel tank [Body].
Occupancy: 2 CS, 2 PS Cargo: 2 Body.
Armor
Body: 2/3
Wings: 2/3
Equipment
Body: Medium radio receiver and transmitter, navigation instruments,
autopilot.
Statistics
| Size: 24'x28'x11' | Payload: 0.58 tons | Lwt: 2.36 tons |
| Volume: 224 | Maint.: 56 hours | Price: $12,700 |
HT: 12.
HPs: 260 Body, 100 each Wing, 24 each Wheel.
| aSpeed: 198 | aAccel: 4 | aDecel: 30 | aMR: 7.5 | aSR: 2 | Stall: 57 |
Design Notes
The historical speed has been used (design speed was 179 mph), as well
as the actual wing area (150 square feet). Wing HP, cost and weight were
doubled.
Due to the wing design, the pilot should receive a +2 to notice a stall before it occurs (the lower wing stalls first, forcing the plane to slightly pitch down). However, the pilot has a -1 on any landing.
Variants
There were eight series of the Model 17. Most differed only in engines,
ranging from 164-kW (166 mph) to 485-kW (240 mph).
The Model B-17 (1934) was the initial production version. It had longer landing gear, which made landings more difficult (-2 to Piloting).
The Model C-17 (1936) shortened the landing gear and made other minor improvements.
The version mass-produced for the Army (207) and Navy (63) starting in 1942 was based on the Model D-17 (it was so close to the civilian version, in fact, that many of the civilian planes were used by various nations during the war). The Army version was designated the UC-43, the Navy version being the GB-2.