A Beech Staggerwing arrives at Leeds Bradford airport
- At March 06, 2014
- By David Mason
- In Uncategorized
- 0
THIS AIRCRAFT ARRIVED AT YORKSHIRE LIGHT AIRCRAFT at Leeds/Bradford Airport in the Spring of 1977 taking many months to replace the fabric and complete its Certificate of Airworthiness.
Fastest Biplane In The West
By CLIFF BARNETT
A RETRACTABLE BIPLANE w h i c h c a n top 200 m.p.h. is rare indeed, and when it has back-stagger and a radial engine it can only belong to one species—the Beech 17. Known since long ago as the Staggerwing, it is almost extinct in Europe, and the only known airworthy example is now on the UK register as G-BDGK..
The Beech 17 held the distinction in 1932 of being Walter Beech’s first production aircraft, and turned out to be a remarkable aeroplane. It first appeared with a fixed, spatted undercarriage, and outperformed some contemporary fighters. It was developed through the thirties with various engines, ranging from a 225 h.p. Jacobs to a 710 h.p. Wright Cyclone, and eventually saw war service on appear to be four ailerons, but closer inspection reveals that the lower two are electrically operated flaps.
The fabric on this beefy wood and steel-tube airframe has a beautiful gloss finish, matching the gleaming spinner, propeller and pushrod covers —obviously polished with care by their owner. Underneath is the cavernous opening of the wheelwells, where retraction chains, control cables, fuel lines, brake cylinders and wiring are among the many items on view.
Philip Wolf was already on board and, opening the limousine-sized door on the port side, I clambered in to join him. The floor slopes steeply upwards Rapide-fashion, and the rear bench seat looks wide enough for three. I nearly scalped myself on the roof-suspended compass before sliding into the empty soft-leather bucket an organ—rather awkward at first.
Starting tends to be a two-man task. One works the fuel wobble pump while the other primes. With a couple of coughs the Pratt & Whitney turned itself into life, sending out that characteristic radial burble. Outside, the Stampe was waddling past and we followed it. Considering the wide expanse of engine in front, the view either side was very reasonable, and it was necessary to swing the nose only to see directly in front. The long-coil mainwheel springs produced a soft, gently pitching ride over the grass.
Checks at the holding point included a careful glance that the oil temperature was at least 140°F, and exercising the big Hamilton Standard propeller. Satisfied, we turned into wind, locked the castoring tailwheel a world of difference apart. The Staggerwing was surprisingly easy to fly. It was relaxingly stable, yet could be rolled into a steep turn with little effort on ailerons and elevators. The ailerons were obviously efficient and allowed a balanced turn with hardly any rudder pressure. I had heard of the gentlemanly stalling habits, and ‘GK was true to form.
At just under 60 m.p.h. the nose fell gently as the lower wing stalled, but the ailerons remained effective—the upper wing was apparently still unstalled. With the e.g. below the unstalled wing, there must be a good measure of pendulous stability.
We flew back to Redhill at a speed more typical of the Staggerwing. With 25 in. and 1,900 r.p.m. we droned along at 170 m.p.h. IAS, but the slow-revving sounds from up front gave the impression that we were flying a lot slower. Maximum cruise at altitude is over 200 m.p.h. but there is a drawback: even at our moderate speed the old bird was gulping some 20gal/hr. Sitting almost ahead of the upper wings gave surprisingly good visibility, and those massive struts splitting the cockpit area, combined with so much airframe below and around, gave a feeling of great security and strength. Looking back into the capacious cabin, I could well believe those stories of Staggerwings carrying nine people and operating way above the gross weight of 4,250 lb.
Throttled back to descend into the circuit, the Staggerwing took a long time to slow down. So clean is it that the flight manual actually recommends easing back and climbing 500ft as the first action in the event of an engine failure in the cruise. Downwind at 100 m.p.h. the big undercarriage lever went down and a prolonged, mechanical rattle began from underneath—our rear-seat passenger leaned forward to enquire urgently about the health of the engine. The noises finally halted with a clunk, and the single green light signalled the reappearance of all three wheels (yes, even the tailwheel retracts).
We idled down the base leg at 80 m.p.h., selecting some flap with the switch—just like a modern aeroplane except that with no flap indicator you have to judge it by looking back at the trailing edge. Looking along the top plane made it easy to pick up the runway round the turn, and we rolled out with the speed gradually reducing to 75 m.p.h. over the hedge. The big radial rose to block the view on the round-out, and then the yoke came back and back, the three wheels groping for the ground together in true taildragger style. We touched once and stayed down for a short, pitching run—feet working fairly hard to keep straight.
After parking outside the hangar we could not avoid noticing that the Pratt & Whitney had characteristically spat out some oil streaks over the polished covers and cowling. It wouldhave been sacrilegious to leave them on this immaculate aeroplane and we wiped them off before pushing ‘GK inside to join its Tiger Club stablemates, glad that there were others around to help. The Staggerwing may be graceful in the air, but it is an unwieldy beast to push on the ground.
While spares for the ubiquitous Pratt & Whitney are still plentiful, the airframe poses a problem following the near-extinction of the Staggerwing in Europe. Fortunately, America still has the Staggerwing Club, which circulates some parts. Hopefully, Philip Wolf will manage to take this magnificent old aeroplane into European skies for many years to come.
Article courtesy Flight International http://www.flightglobal.com/