The King of the Limo Planes
Built specifically for business executives, the Beechcraft Model 17, more popularly known as the “Staggerwing,” first flew near the end of 1932. Budd Davisson, editor-in-chief of our sibling publication Flight Journal, refers to the Model 17 as the “king of the limo planes.” He adds, “The Staggerwing remained in production up to 1946, and it shared space at the Beechcraft assembly hangars where the new Bonanzas were beginning to roll out. A true rag-and-tube airplane, it was built with a welded-steel-tube framework covered with fabric. Lots of stringers and fairing made this biplane very clean aerodynamically, so it could fly fast. And in the drive for more speed, the landing gear was retractable as well.” Budd talks about cranking the big Pratt & Whitney 985 radial to life and says that the Staggerwing “feels, sounds, and smells like a real airplane.” He also says it feels as if you’re sitting in a Packard limousine. But in the air, it was the benchmark by which all other executive aircraft builders were measured.