Late in 1932, the newborn Beech Aircraft Co. flew its first product, a five-seat biplane with a 420 hp radial engine and fixed landing gear enclosed in huge fairings. Walter Beech gave it model number 17, since the last model built by the Travel Air company, which he had founded in 1925 with an all-star cast of Clyde Cessna and Lloyd Stearman and sold in 1929 to Curtiss-Wright, had been its 16th.
The Staggerwing was the Climax, and the End, of an Era
Key Takeaways:
- Beech Aircraft Co. launched its first product, the Model 17 biplane (later known as the Staggerwing), in 1932 during the Great Depression, quickly evolving to a retractable-gear version.
- The Staggerwing earned its name from its distinctive negative wing stagger (lower wing forward of upper), a design choice aimed at improving pilot visibility and accommodating retractable landing gear.
- Chief designer Ted Wells incorporated advanced aerodynamic features, including NACA's round cowling and GALCIT's wing root fairing, to achieve exceptionally low drag for a biplane.
- Despite its innovative design and status as a stylish and fast aircraft, the Staggerwing was technologically superseded by contemporary metal monoplanes, yet it remained an iconic "inimitable jewel" in production through World War II.
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