I exist because of this plane. In 1933, Beech Aircraft hired a homeless man to help fill the orders for Staggerwings. This man was then able to marry his sweetheart. They had a son in 1937. That child was my father.
My neighbor has a 17D. He often flys around on nice days. That is one of the most beautiful aircraft I have ever seen and heard. Can’t beat the sound of the radials.
I got to fly in a Staggerwing Beach in the 1980’s. One of my Dad’s friends from Alaska owned it, and trusted his flight instructor with it, my Dad. We had an amazing time flying over Western Washington with it from Seattle to Mt. Rainier to Mt. St. Hellens and back.
I got a ride in one of those when I was about 8 years old. I just about wet my pants I was so happy with the sound and feeling that the plane gave to the occupants. I'm sure the experience of flying in one of them hasn't diminished at all since then. Timeless
Sometime during my elementary school years, I was invited over to a new friends house out in the country. His father had a beautiful yellow airplane. Long afterward, I learned it was a Staggerwing. I have been in love with them ever since. (I am now 71)
I was fortunate enough to get a few hours in a D-17S, N711ZZ. Joe Kittinger was the PIC, and allowed me to fly with him on some trips. Rambling Rosie was an amazing airplane!
My flight instructor rebuilt a D17 Staggerwing back in the 60's. A very cool airplane. Never saw it completed, but did help him doing a run test on the Jacobs radial engine.
The antique Staggerwing is one sweet bird to fly! It and the Spartan Executive are the most under-rated Civil aircraft even built. You have work hard to run either of them into the ground. Get 'em "messed-up" in the air-just take your hands and feet off the controls and they'll right themselves if you have any altitude.
My Flight instructor, John Krueger of Redlands Airport/City of Redlands, Has the oldest flying Beech Staggerwing. It was the first Staggerwing produced and was originally owned first by Beech, and then sold a couple of years later. After being in a wreck just recently he is now in the process of replacing all of the cloth, he has rebuilt/replaced everything else so when he is finished it will have had a complete rebuild.
Worked at Glendale, AZ airport in 1976. A genleman had a Beech Staggerwing that he rebuilt from the ground up. As part of its maiden flight after the restoration he made a high speed low pass down the runway. Very impressive. And the sound it made..........
Such a beautiful, classic and timeless airplane the Beech 17 is. It first flew in 1932, and I can only imagine what the people of the day thought of it. Just imagine being able to buy a new Staggerwing today for only $250,000. The 17 looked like it was doing 150 kts. while sitting on the tarmac.
I worked at the Calgary airport as a helicopter mechanic in 1973 and the company shared a hangar with several aircraft, one of which was a impeccable bright yellow Staggerwing, with wine coloured leather interior. such a dominating aircraft design, all those 182's and 310's paled in significance to that beauty
American aviation magazines have fawned over these for 80+ years. At the end of the day, You don't want the misfortune of owning / maintaining something like this. Let alone the risk of actually operating it cross country. (It was already kinda dangerous in it's day. Before power lines, radio towers, houses everywhere. Now engine out means very high risk of activating you and your closest kins last will and testament. And these old radials have a habit to let go of everything important to the pilots happiness about once every 1,500 hours or so. It is survivable. But its a percentage roll of the dice)
Brings back 45+ old memories, I knew two people who owned them. One was a super nice guy that would visit once in a while, he even had a matching colored automobile and a girlfriend that looked very similar to Jessica Rabbit. I looked at the one without wing supports up close at dawn in Oshkosh back in the '90s, now that was awesome. Personally, I'd be more than happy with a 180, at least I wouldn't be flopping around and crying if I wrecked it.
"Staggerwing and Me" was an article written by an English Professor out of NM that ferried planes as a side job. It's one of the best written articles in an age (the seventies) when Playboy published some incredible work.
I enjoyed the video of the Beechcraft Staggerwing but I'd like to see the interior of this plane too whenever possible. It puts me in mind of the Dehavilland Beaver with it's radial engine but I'm not familiar with the Beech at all. The Staggerwing is very impressive but I got confused with which is which the negative and the other style and which is best. Thank you very much for all you do to prepare these videos to upload for all of us to share. Happy Landings.
Thank you for a very informative video on the Beechcraft Staggerwing. Please consider foing a video on the Beechcraft Model 18. This plane was in production at Beechcraft for more than thirty years.
In the early 40's my dad went to MIT. His roommate had a beautiful sports car and a Beech Craft V Tail airplane. My dad was a member of the MIT glider club.
Walter Beech was saved by a mysterious airport hacked out of the Canadian forest while flying a Staggerwing. I picked up this story while working in the public relations department of Beech Aircraft in Wichita, KS, back in the 60's. Walter and his production test pilot were flying back to Kansas in a new Staggerwing after attending an air show in Canada. This was in the late 30's or so. The big problem was that they were running low an fuel. Ahead and behind lay miles forest. They flew on and after awhile their lack of fuel grew critical. It was about then that they spotted a runway cut out of the trees below. Walter landed, and there they sat on a wilderness landing strip. A few minutes later, a man driving a tractor and pulling a cart with a 50 gallon gas drum appeared. Walter and his test pilot were grateful, but astounded. Walter asked the man how this field came to be. The man told them the story of how his son -- a fighter pilot in WWI -- was shot down over a forest in Europe. No runway in sight. Suddenly he came across a runway carved out of the trees below. It saved the son's life. Hearing this story from his son made the man decide to do the same thing where he lived in Canada.
I got mine as a barnfind a little over 20 years ago for 17K. I wish I was into RUclips then because the restoration would have been worth recording. Needless to say, the restoration cost significantly more than the buying cost 😂
A Staggerwing dropped into Waukesha, WI where I was taking flight instruction. I got to walk right up to it and even see inside. Most impressive bird I have seen before or since. Excluding the DC-3. 😁😁
My Dad had a J3 and a Stinson 10A, Tied next to them was a Stagger Wing. Tried as I Could I could NEVER wrangle a ride out of the owner,the biggest regret of my life,What a beautiful Airplane!
I know too much after fully restoring a crashed bellied in 43' Staggerwing, but I wasn't prepared two yrs later, for the intense 2.5G barrel roll indicated on the panel. No worries, no one heard me screaming over the maxed out 450Hp radial. It was a huge restoration making all new landing gear doors, to full panel mod to use modern radios, where it's required to extend the firewall for new style radios to fit. The final touch was full repaint to original layout. If other tech's recognize this rebuild, where it happened in St.Paul Mn mid eighties, Cheers
Unfortunately, government bureaucracy has had decades to destroy personal aviation. A “new” Cessna 172 is around $350k. A modern equivalent of the Staggerwing is over $800k. Innovation and progress in small aircraft engines virtually died the day the FAA was created.
Monoplanes were actually superior even then, but most people didn't' think so, and the clients were not engineers. Still it's a great looking aircraft.
Picked up a D17 in Ohio 1978. Drove back thru Tullahoma to see what was happening, probably to show off and got a ride in another there. Got it home to San Antonio. New- zero time R985, it was beautiful but after looking at it closely, realized that all wings were red tagged. Tried to talk major investor into keeping her but he backed out. 50,000 was what he had in it and wouldn’t be budged. Nearly cried as we were set up to rebuild it all. Sad, sad.
@@bigmetalbirds I could only afford one hour of fuel at 22 GPH! I have a friend who owns a Broussard which also has a Wasp Junior in the front. They are thirsty…..
@@tomcoryell ~ $1200 to fill the tanks from empty. Plus top off oil. National average price for 100LL is $6.64/gal. Multiply fuel cost per hour by 5 = $730.4 is a good estimate of ownership cost, assuming 50-100 hours per year are flown. (Yes. $37-$73k annual cost of ownership is accurate ballpark for this).
Just to clear up a small inaccuracy in the introductory remarks, the first production Learjet was delivered in October 1964 according the Wikipedia article on Learjet. A wealthy person or business could not have flown one in the 1950’s.
I'd put the M17 #2 behind the Spartan Executive. The M17 rear taper from rear of cabin to the elevators and rudder is not asymmetric to the rest of the plane. Along with the rudder design, is actually kind of ugly. The M17 only shines head on. Your mileage may vary though.
$14,000 ÷ $35(1 oz GOLD in 1933) = 400 oz of GOLD for 1 Plane. 400 oz × $2200 1oz GOLD 2024 = $880,000 ( this will only grow over time ) Any Inflation calculation NOT using GOLD is wrong. The US Dollar was backed by GOLD at the time. Therefore the comparison needs to be brought back to LEVEL. GOLD is MONEY. PAPER is CURRENCY.
people seem to use money to value money. If one bought $14k of gold in 1932, today that gold would be worth $1.3million. This is probably a fairer reflection of the true value. I wonder what property in NYC that was valued at $14k in 1932 would cost in 2024?
I exist because of this plane. In 1933, Beech Aircraft hired a homeless man to help fill the orders for Staggerwings. This man was then able to marry his sweetheart. They had a son in 1937. That child was my father.
❤
Awesome
God bless you in the beautiful name of Jesus. I love you and the family!
Absolutely one of the most beautiful aircraft to ever fly!
Totally agree!
AGREE!
Agree!
My neighbor has a 17D. He often flys around on nice days. That is one of the most beautiful aircraft I have ever seen and heard. Can’t beat the sound of the radials.
I got to fly in a Staggerwing Beach in the 1980’s. One of my Dad’s friends from Alaska owned it, and trusted his flight instructor with it, my Dad. We had an amazing time flying over Western Washington with it from Seattle to Mt. Rainier to Mt. St. Hellens and back.
I got a ride in one of those when I was about 8 years old. I just about wet my pants I was so happy with the sound and feeling that the plane gave to the occupants. I'm sure the experience of flying in one of them hasn't diminished at all since then. Timeless
Sometime during my elementary school years, I was invited over to a new friends house out in the country. His father had a beautiful yellow airplane. Long afterward, I learned it was a Staggerwing. I have been in love with them ever since. (I am now 71)
It is my opinion that this is by far the most beautiful aircraft ever designed and flown.
I was fortunate enough to get a few hours in a D-17S, N711ZZ. Joe Kittinger was the PIC, and allowed me to fly with him on some trips. Rambling Rosie was an amazing airplane!
Saw a couple of these at an airshow last year. Beautiful planes, also sound fantastic.
My flight instructor rebuilt a D17 Staggerwing back in the 60's. A very cool airplane. Never saw it completed, but did help him doing a run test on the Jacobs radial engine.
I am 91 loved the Beech Still Do
The antique Staggerwing is one sweet bird to fly! It and the Spartan Executive are the most under-rated Civil aircraft even built. You have work hard to run either of them into the ground. Get 'em "messed-up" in the air-just take your hands and feet off the controls and they'll right themselves if you have any altitude.
My Flight instructor, John Krueger of Redlands Airport/City of Redlands, Has the oldest flying Beech Staggerwing. It was the first Staggerwing produced and was originally owned first by Beech, and then sold a couple of years later. After being in a wreck just recently he is now in the process of replacing all of the cloth, he has rebuilt/replaced everything else so when he is finished it will have had a complete rebuild.
Isn't the airport where the C-47 parachute plane "D DAY DOLL" is based out of???
Wonderful history video. Thanks for your work. Much enjoyed!
Thank you!
Worked at Glendale, AZ airport in 1976. A genleman had a Beech Staggerwing that he rebuilt from the ground up. As part of its maiden flight after the restoration he made a high speed low pass down the runway. Very impressive. And the sound it made..........
Love the stagger wing Beach, beautiful plane.😊
Stag wings are just beautiful .
Such a beautiful, classic and timeless airplane the Beech 17 is. It first flew in 1932, and I can only imagine what the people of the day thought of it. Just imagine being able to buy a new Staggerwing today for only $250,000. The 17 looked like it was doing 150 kts. while sitting on the tarmac.
It is very beautiful.
Absolutely stunning aircraft up there with the connie
This was a fun and excellent review of a gorgeous aircraft. Thanks for sharing
I worked at the Calgary airport as a helicopter mechanic in 1973 and the company shared a hangar with several aircraft, one of which was a impeccable bright yellow Staggerwing, with wine coloured leather interior. such a dominating aircraft design, all those 182's and 310's paled in significance to that beauty
so beautiful ... Incredible how much it is so beautiful...
What a wonderful old plane and one that I am not familiar with. I know more about British aircraft from that period. Thank you for sharing.
American aviation magazines have fawned over these for 80+ years.
At the end of the day, You don't want the misfortune of owning / maintaining something like this. Let alone the risk of actually operating it cross country.
(It was already kinda dangerous in it's day. Before power lines, radio towers, houses everywhere. Now engine out means very high risk of activating you and your closest kins last will and testament. And these old radials have a habit to let go of everything important to the pilots happiness about once every 1,500 hours or so. It is survivable. But its a percentage roll of the dice)
Go to the museum in Tullahoma Tennessee. Great book on the Staggerwing written by RT Smith, one of the founders of the museum and multiple 19 owner.
There was a D17 at the Des Moines, IA airport in the early 70's where I took most of my flight training. Beautiful airplane.
just beautiful
The Duesenberg of the sky.
One of my all time favorites!
This is a truly beautiful design for a civilian aircraft. Thanks so much for posting. 😊
Brings back 45+ old memories, I knew two people who owned them. One was a super nice guy that would visit once in a while, he even had a matching colored automobile and a girlfriend that looked very similar to Jessica Rabbit. I looked at the one without wing supports up close at dawn in Oshkosh back in the '90s, now that was awesome. Personally, I'd be more than happy with a 180, at least I wouldn't be flopping around and crying if I wrecked it.
"Staggerwing and Me" was an article written by an English Professor out of NM that ferried planes as a side job. It's one of the best written articles in an age (the seventies) when Playboy published some incredible work.
I enjoyed the video of the Beechcraft Staggerwing but I'd like to see the interior of this plane too whenever possible. It puts me in mind of the Dehavilland Beaver with it's radial engine but I'm not familiar with the Beech at all. The Staggerwing is very impressive but I got confused with which is which the negative and the other style and which is best. Thank you very much for all you do to prepare these videos to upload for all of us to share. Happy Landings.
Thank you for your nice video and storytelling 🙏🏼
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for a very informative video on the Beechcraft Staggerwing. Please consider foing a video on the Beechcraft Model 18. This plane was in production at Beechcraft for more than thirty years.
Just plain beautiful 😊
It’s nice to see an innovative design.
Beautiful bird
Absolutely agree!
In the early 40's my dad went to MIT. His roommate had a beautiful sports car and a Beech Craft V Tail airplane. My dad was a member of the MIT glider club.
Walter Beech was saved by a mysterious airport hacked out of the Canadian forest while flying a Staggerwing. I picked up this story while working in the public relations department of Beech Aircraft in Wichita, KS, back in the 60's. Walter and his production test pilot were flying back to Kansas in a new Staggerwing after attending an air show in Canada. This was in the late 30's or so. The big problem was that they were running low an fuel. Ahead and behind lay miles forest. They flew on and after awhile their lack of fuel grew critical. It was about then that they spotted a runway cut out of the trees below. Walter landed, and there they sat on a wilderness landing strip. A few minutes later, a man driving a tractor and pulling a cart with a 50 gallon gas drum appeared. Walter and his test pilot were grateful, but astounded. Walter asked the man how this field came to be. The man told them the story of how his son -- a fighter pilot in WWI -- was shot down over a forest in Europe. No runway in sight. Suddenly he came across a runway carved out of the trees below. It saved the son's life. Hearing this story from his son made the man decide to do the same thing where he lived in Canada.
Absolutely beautiful!
500K for this beauty, and 400K for a new C 172 Not too hard to choose.
I got mine as a barnfind a little over 20 years ago for 17K. I wish I was into RUclips then because the restoration would have been worth recording. Needless to say, the restoration cost significantly more than the buying cost 😂
Great video. Thanks
Classy 👌
You missed the boat on the main attraction of the staggerwing, its fuselage and wings were a work of art.
Waco makes a beautiful biplane
A Staggerwing dropped into Waukesha, WI where I was taking flight instruction. I got to walk right up to it and even see inside. Most impressive bird I have seen before or since. Excluding the DC-3. 😁😁
There was one at Hales Corners in the early 60’s where my Dad had his J3 ,what a Beautiful Bird!
My Dad had a J3 and a Stinson 10A, Tied next to them was a Stagger Wing. Tried as I Could I could NEVER wrangle a ride out of the owner,the biggest regret of my life,What a beautiful Airplane!
I know too much after fully restoring a crashed bellied in 43' Staggerwing,
but I wasn't prepared two yrs later, for the intense 2.5G barrel roll indicated on the panel.
No worries, no one heard me screaming over the maxed out 450Hp radial.
It was a huge restoration making all new landing gear doors, to full panel mod
to use modern radios, where it's required to extend the firewall for new style radios to fit.
The final touch was full repaint to original layout.
If other tech's recognize this rebuild, where it happened in St.Paul Mn mid eighties,
Cheers
My god that's a beautiful plane 😮
Five of these staggerwing are in Wanaka New Zealand getting rebuilt
$250, 000 Seems doable to me. In todays money . For such a beautiful aircraft
Unfortunately, government bureaucracy has had decades to destroy personal aviation. A “new” Cessna 172 is around $350k. A modern equivalent of the Staggerwing is over $800k. Innovation and progress in small aircraft engines virtually died the day the FAA was created.
I saw a few over the years a beautiful airplane
I always thought that the Beech 17 is one of most Beautiful planes ever built it's up there with the Lockheed Constellation, classy!
Good Video. I Bet It's Already Sold!
The staggering is the most beautiful civil aviation aircraft of the 30s and 40s.
A Staggerwing makes an appearance in the movie “Wild River” with Montgomery Clift.
Ithink they were one of the most fantastic planes ever built
Gorgeous plane with macho sound. BTW, Waco is pronounced "Wah-co." Wayco is the city of Waco, TX.
thanks for clarifying, im from Europe so i didnt know the right pronunciation.
Pretty Aircraft . you can see where the Pitt Specials came from too .
My Grand pa had a V tail, it was a beautiful plane
Witnessed one ground looping at ENE long ago. Squirrely landing but everything came out fine.
Monoplanes were actually superior even then, but most people didn't' think so, and the clients were not engineers. Still it's a great looking aircraft.
Great airplane...👍
Picked up a D17 in Ohio 1978. Drove back thru Tullahoma to see what was happening, probably to show off and got a ride in another there. Got it home to San Antonio. New- zero time R985, it was beautiful but after looking at it closely, realized that all wings were red tagged. Tried to talk major investor into keeping her but he backed out. 50,000 was what he had in it and wouldn’t be budged. Nearly cried as we were set up to rebuild it all. Sad, sad.
Now I want one….
after researching this plane for a video - i also want one haha
@@bigmetalbirds I could only afford one hour of fuel at 22 GPH! I have a friend who owns a Broussard which also has a Wasp Junior in the front. They are thirsty…..
@@tomcoryell ~ $1200 to fill the tanks from empty. Plus top off oil. National average price for 100LL is $6.64/gal. Multiply fuel cost per hour by 5 = $730.4 is a good estimate of ownership cost, assuming 50-100 hours per year are flown. (Yes. $37-$73k annual cost of ownership is accurate ballpark for this).
woah, thats crazy!!
@@TheJustinJ Hey thanks!
Thank you!
One minor point: it is ‘ whopping,’ not ‘whooping,’ as you used. 😉
Just to clear up a small inaccuracy in the introductory remarks, the first production Learjet was delivered in October 1964 according the Wikipedia article on Learjet. A wealthy person or business could not have flown one in the 1950’s.
Yes.
The Griffon Lionheart was a updated version.
WACO Aircraft pronounced "Wah Co" Waco "Wayco" is in Texas
Functional art.
❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉!!!
👍
When are you making videos of bombardier planes?
no sound?
I helped restore two
I would take one of those over a Lear jet any day
Has anyone converted one of these to turboprop? I know there are limitations due to the biplane, as far as never exceed speed.
Are there any independent/small aircraft companies that make a replica Beechcraft Staggerwing?
The Griffin
It's not a Gulfstream, but still, it's beautiful.
They're $400k. Yep, out of my price range. Pretty plane though.
The original Q-ship.
What's a Q-ship?
@@johnpooky84 Q=17.
I'd put the M17 #2 behind the Spartan Executive. The M17 rear taper from rear of cabin to the elevators and rudder is not asymmetric to the rest of the plane. Along with the rudder design, is actually kind of ugly. The M17 only shines head on. Your mileage may vary though.
Why dont they make a modern remake of this plane?
WACO rhymes with taco.
Waco is a town in Texas.
when monetary wealth to all is not the goal, you don't want to know what is
More like PILATUS JET.
what plane is that at 6:49?
Any LionHearts around?
That is one Sexy Airplane !!!!!!!!!!!!
Sexiest airplane ever. Tore between Beech 18 or Lockheed loadstar bombers ( Howard 500,s) as second sexiest ever.
Sexiest civilian prop-driven plane ever built!
$14,000 ÷ $35(1 oz GOLD in 1933) = 400 oz of GOLD for 1 Plane.
400 oz × $2200 1oz GOLD 2024 = $880,000 ( this will only grow over time )
Any Inflation calculation NOT using GOLD is wrong.
The US Dollar was backed by GOLD at the time. Therefore the comparison needs to be brought back to LEVEL.
GOLD is MONEY.
PAPER is CURRENCY.
That is a vehicle my dad would call a "real lady".
Please learn the correct pronunciation of the "Waco" Aircraft Company. In that context, it is not the same as Waco Texas.
Beech 17...sexiest plane ever...Beech 18..second sexiest ever !
i dont get it. a state of the art buisness plane for 250.000 is an incredible bargain
people seem to use money to value money. If one bought $14k of gold in 1932, today that gold would be worth $1.3million. This is probably a fairer reflection of the true value. I wonder what property in NYC that was valued at $14k in 1932 would cost in 2024?
Diamond's DA 50 could be the Staggerwings's modern equivalent at $1.5m??