Beechcraft SD17 Staggerwing: American single-engine floatplane converted from the basic model with a standard wheeled undercarriage. The main feature of such a machine was its ability to take off and land on small lakes and reservoirs. The first SD17 appeared in 1934, and afterwards a good number of Staggerwings were converted to floatplanes. With the beginning of WWII, along with other civil machines, they were requisitioned by the government for military needs, and they were used in lakeland areas and also in Alaska, mainly as patrol airplanes. Apart from the USA, Staggerwing floatplanes were used in Canada and Australia. The last machines of this type continued to carry out commercial flights up until the early 1970s.