Planes of Fame Air Museum Receives A Beechcraft Staggerwing

Last week, the Planes of Fame Air Museum of Chino, California welcomed the donation of a new airplane that flew into Chino Airport on August 13. The aircraft in question is a Beechcraft D17S Staggerwing, widely considered to be one of the most attractive airplanes by aviation enthusiasts. With its top wings slanted back from the bottom wings (hence the origin for its name), retractable landing gear and plush interior, the Staggerwing was seen as the last word in luxury aircraft for its time, being seen in the same light as today’s business jets. Staggerwings even saw pre-war success as air racers among the likes of women pilots Blanche Noyes, Louise Thaden, and Jacqueline Cochran.  Noyes and Thaden won the 1936 Bendix Trophy and Cochran placed third in the 1937 race, respectively. The Staggerwing also served with distinction in WWII, flying as a light transport for diplomats in Europe and as a light personnel transport for the US and British militaries.

This Staggerwing was originally manufactured at Beechcraft’s Wichita, KS plant in May 1944 as construction number 6918. With WWII ongoing, the Staggerwings rolling off the production line were being constructed as light utility transports for the US armed forces and for export as part of the Lend-Lease Program. Though the aircraft had USAAF serial number 44-76073 for administrative purposes, c/n 6918 would serve with the US Navy as a GB-2 Traveler, Bureau Number (BuNo) 23738. Being accepted by the Navy on May 19, 1944 and delivered from the factory five days later, BuNo 23738 spent the war stateside as a utility transport, first at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River, MD, then at NAS Glenview, IL. Stricken from the Navy on July 31, 1946, BuNo 23738 would be sold on the civilian market, flying with a number of owners and two different registration numbers before receiving its current number N4417S. During the 1999 Sun’n Fun airshow in Lakeland, Florida, N4417S, then owned by David Fayman of Lawrence, KS, received the award for Best Cabin in the Antique Category. By 2005, though, the aircraft had come to southern California where it was often seen flying into airshows held at Camarillo Airport and Flabob Airport in Riverside, with the aircraft itself being based out of Van Nuys Airport.

The donation of the Staggerwing to Planes of Fame adds yet another outstanding aircraft to one of the oldest continually operating flying museums in the world. While it is still too early to say when the aircraft will appear at an upcoming airshow, Planes of Fame fully intends to maintain the aircraft in flyable condition, and with “Phase Alpha” of the museum’s upcoming facility in Santa Maria along California’s Central Coast set to open within the coming year, readers in California may need to keep their eyes on the sky and listen for the throaty sound of a radial engine passing overhead!

For more information on Planes of Fame, visit Home Page | Planes of Fame Air Museum.

Adam Estes

Raised in Fullerton, California, Adam has earned a bachelor's degree in history and is now pursuing his master's in the same field. Fascinated by aviation history from a young age, he has visited numerous air museums across the United States, including the National Air and Space Museum and the San Diego Air and Space Museum. He volunteers at the Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino as a docent and researcher, gaining hands-on experience with aircraft maintenance. Known for his encyclopedic knowledge of aviation history, he is particularly interested in the stories of individual aircraft and their postwar journeys. Active in online aviation communities, he shares his work widely and seeks further opportunities in the field.

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