Consolidated Fleetster

The Consolidated Model 17 Fleetster was an American light transport monoplane built by the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation, with closely related Model 18 and Model 20 types and the military C-11, C-22 and XBY versions. It was designed to meet a requirement of the New York, Rio, and Buenos Aires Line for an aircraft to serve coastal routes in South America, and it had a streamlined all-metal monocoque fuselage, a wooden wing and a 575 hp Pratt & Whitney Hornet B radial engine. It could be built as a landplane or seaplane and carry up to eight passengers. The parasol-wing Model 20 moved the cockpit behind the cabin, and the Model 18 dive bomber, evaluated by the United States Navy as the XBY-1, was the first stressed-skin aircraft with wet wing fuel tanks operated by that service.