The Williams W-17 Stinger is an American
homebuilt
Homebuilt machines are machines built outside of specialised workshops or factories. This can include different things such as kit cars or homebuilt computers, but normally it pertains to homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft ...
racing aircraft
Air racing is a type of motorsport that involves airplanes or other types of aircraft that compete over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a previ ...
that was designed for
Formula One Air Racing by Art Williams and produced by his company,
Williams Aircraft Design of
Northridge, California, introduced in 1971. The aircraft was at one time available in the form of plans for amateur construction, but only one was ever constructed.
[Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', page 160. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977. ]
Design and development
The W-17 Stinger features a cantilever
mid-wing, a single-seat enclosed cockpit under a
bubble canopy, fixed
conventional landing gear and a single engine in
tractor configuration.
The aircraft
fuselage is made from sheet
aluminum in a
monocoque structure. The wings are all-wood, with laminated
spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...
spars
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) Women's Reserve, also known as the SPARS (SPARS was the acronym for "Semper Paratus—Always Ready"), was the women's branch of the United States Coast Guard Reserve. It was established by the United States ...
. Its span wing employs a
NACA 64008 airfoil
An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbine.
...
at the
wing root, transitioning to a
NACA 64010 at the
wing tip. As the Formula One rules require, the engine is a
Continental O-200A
The Continental C90 and O-200 are a family of air-cooled, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder, direct-drive aircraft engines of 201 in³ (3.29 L) displacement, producing between 90 and 100 horsepower (67 and 75 kW).''Federal Aviation Admini ...
powerplant.
[Aerofiles]
Williams, Williams-Gully
retrieved 5 November 2013
The W-17 has an empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload is .
Operational history
Only one example of the W-17 Stinger was
registered
Registered may refer to:
* Registered mail, letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and in need of a chain of custody
* Registered trademark symbol, symbol ® that provides notice that the preceding is a trademark or service ...
in the United States with the
Federal Aviation Administration in 1971.
The sole example was raced at the
Reno Air Races by pilot John P. Jones in 1973 and captured second place.
Aircraft on display
*
Planes of Fame Air Museum - sole example built
Specifications (W-17 Stinger)
References
External links
Photo of the Williams W-17 Stinger{{Art Williams aircraft
W-17 Stinger
1970s United States sport aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Mid-wing aircraft
Homebuilt aircraft
Racing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1971