Aircraft model
BELLANCA 17-30
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Bellanca 17-30 Viking 300 is the four-seat retractable that cruises at 180 knots on 300 hp — faster than a Bonanza on the same power, because the airframe is small and the wooden wing is aerodynamically very clean. Bellanca built it for people who wanted speed above all else.
The structure is why it is cheap. The wing is spruce and plywood covered in fabric and the fuselage is fabric-covered steel tube; wood is strong and light but rots if water gets in, and a Viking that has lived outside or had a leaking windshield can have a wing that is expensive or impossible to repair. Hangarage is not optional and inspection requires someone who understands wooden structures. Parts support from the various successor companies has been intermittent for decades.
Compare with…
Put BELLANCA 17-30 side by side with up to two other models.
- BELLANCA 17-30
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental IO-520-K |
| Horsepower | 300 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1967 |
| Production end | 1972 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 180 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 750 nm |
| Service ceiling | 20,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,200 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 57 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,030 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 670 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,200 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,170 lb |
| Usable fuel | 60 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 16.8 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $42,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $115,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,700 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $48,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $68,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 261 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 83 |
| Median year built | 1968.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 4 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 48.19 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 48.19 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 18 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 21.69 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 5 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 83 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 83 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 83 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 8.3 of 103 |
| Support | 3.6 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 6.6 of 105 |
These record scores treat BELLANCA 17-30 as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes the record of aircraft once registered under BELLANCA INC. Prices are not combined.
- Accident record: class median 32.28 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 775.
- Support: class median 147.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.9.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.