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ability to take off and climb over obstacles (usually tall palm trees) at maximum gross weight.
As for the Navy, which also operated its GB-1 and GB-2 Staggerwings in the Pacific, pilots flew missions similar to those performed by Yost. Occasionally these light transports carried high-ranking Navy and Marine officers, but more often they were kept busy ferrying pilots from reserve pools to new squadrons, carrying mail and other small cargo, or flying as navigation aircraft leading Navy and Marine fighters from one island to their new base on another island.
One undated account of these navigation flights that resides in Beech Aircraft’s archives mentions “little commercial Beechcrafts” that served as pathfinders for the fighter pilots. The UC-43 and GB-1/GB-2 ships fit this mission well because they were equipped for instrument flight and could navigate more effectively, ensuring that pilots did not become lost or disoriented above the vast Pacific Ocean. Although very little information is available about the exploits of these “little commercial Beechcrafts,” there is little doubt that the UC-43 and GB-1/GB-2 versions played an important part in flying specific missions in combat areas.
Beech Aircraft terminated production of the UC-43 and GB-2 series in September 1945 after building 312 airplanes during the war. Many war-weary Staggerwings found their way back into civilian service through surplus sales conducted by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, which sold UC-43 and GB-2 airplanes for a fraction of their original cost to the U.S. government. In accordance with provisions of the Lend-Lease Act, the Royal Navy returned a majority of its Traveller Mk. 1s to the United States. These ships were issued new serial numbers, declared surplus and were either sold or scrapped. Other ex-RAF and Royal Navy aircraft were sold to civilians in England.
All C/UC-43, GB-2 and Traveller Mk. 1 airplanes built during the war were based on the commercial D17S, but a large number of older Model 17s were impressed by the War Department after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Of these, one B17R served as a UC-43H and one C17R was designated as a C-43E, while 13 D17R were designated C-43A and a single D17A became a C-43F. As for the D17S, a total of 25 were operated by the U.S. military under the designation C-43B. During the war some of these airplanes crashed or were damaged beyond repair, but surprisingly, many survived and were returned to their owners or sold to other buyers.
A majority of Staggerwings flying today are ex- military airplanes, chiefly D17S models. Beech Aircraft Corporation manufactured more Staggerwings during
the war than all of commercial production from 1932- 1940. According to official records at Beech Aircraft Corporation, from 1932-1948 total production of the classic Model 17 series came to 785 aircraft.
The Beechcraft Model 17’s performance throughout the war served to further reinforce its reputation as a reliable aircraft that proved to be well suited to the rigors of military service. It had flown above the desert sands of the Middle East, ferried supplies and personnel across the European and Pacific Theaters of Operation, and had accompanied American forces as they island- hopped across the vast Central Pacific in a campaign to subjugate Japan. KA
Ed Phillips, now retired and living in the South, has researched and written eight books on the unique and rich aviation history that belongs to Wichita, Kansas. His writings have focused on the evolution of the airplanes, companies and people that have made Wichita the “Air Capital of the World” for more than 80 years.
MAY 2023
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 27