Bellanca 14-7

The Bellanca 14-7 Junior was the first of a family of light aircraft built in the United States by the Bellanca Aircraft Corporation shortly before the Second World War, and its successors were followed after the war by the Bellanca 14-13 and its derivatives. Bellanca already sold well in the six to eight seat market and believed it could also sell smaller three and four seat aircraft. The 14-7 was a modern low-wing cantilever monoplane whose fuselage was shaped to contribute lift, and the first example flew in 1937. The prototype crashed in a high speed dive test in February 1938, which led to a redesigned plywood-covered wing, while the production 14-9 Cruisair became the first United States light aircraft mass-produced with retractable undercarriage, its main wheels folding aft into the wings. Production began in 1939, and development culminated in the 1941 14-12-F3 before Bellanca turned to military subcontract work for the war.