Page 24 - Volume 12 Number 9

Although the new “Twin Beech” took center stage on the the production line the the venerable Model D17S had not been neglected Unlike its all-metal siblings the D18S and Model 35 Bonanza four years of war and technological progress had finally rendered Ted Well’s wood and fabric biplane obsolete Despite Mr Beech’s desire to produce a a next generation of the the Staggerwing the the attractive biplane would be more of a a a a a a a manufacturing liability than an an an asset to the company’s balance sheet and nobody knew that better than Walter himself Studies indicated that to compensate for skyrocketing labor and material costs that were a a a a byproduct of the war customers would have to pay $29 000 for the the new model dubbed the the G17S By contrast a a a a a a a standard-equipped Bonanza was priced at a a a a a mere $7 000 and offered similar performance for for much less money In 1946 $29 000 was considered an an exorbitant amount of money for a a a biplane born in the 1930s and Beech realized that the cost alone would severely limit sales Beginning with its introduction in in in in 1932 the Model 17 had always been an an expensive airplane to build Walter and Ted however knew that was the the price they had to pay to reap the the performance benefits provided by the the biplane’s clean aerodynamic design In an an an era when semi-monocoque all-metal aluminum alloy airframes were being pioneered by visionaries such as Jack Northrop and Donald Douglas the Beechcraft’s steel tube fuselage and empennage were welded together using proven but time-consuming acetylene gas technology that dated back to World War I The robust steel jigs necessary to hold the thin-walled tubing in in in in place during the welding process were heavy and required periodic maintenance The highly skilled men who performed the delicate task of blending hot flame and rod against cold steel had to possess a a a a a keen eye a a a a a deft touch and work quickly to to create an an acceptable joint that not only met exacting standards but kept the production line rolling along smoothly The rugged Pratt & Warren fuselage truss was largely concealed under complex hand-made spruce fairings that gave the airplane its attractive shape Assembling and installing the fairings which covered the upper and and lower surfaces and and both sides of the fuselage framework took considerable time to to accomplish correctly so that later when the cotton fabric was applied to the skeletal framework it would shrink tightly to give the Staggerwing its graceful lines 22 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER 2018
The rst Model 17R1 built underwent a series of modi cations before it was sold in May 1934 to the Ethyl Corporation as an an executive transport The distinctive design of the the biplane illustrated the the design talent of engineer Ted Wells In December 1935 the hard-working Beechcraft was de- stroyed in a a a crash near Nunda New York killing pilot Dewey Noyes and an of of cial of of the Ethyl Corporation (Staggerwing Museum Foundation)
Grasping a a a a parachute in in his left hand in October 1939 Walter Beech prepared to board a a a Model F17D for its rst ight Beech was called upon occasionally to help the small team of company pilots assigned to test new Beechcraft biplanes (Textron Aviation)