Aircraft model
BELLANCA 17-31ATC
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Turbo Viking is the 17-31A with a turbocharged Lycoming, giving 200 knots in the low twenties and a 24,000-foot ceiling. It is the fastest Bellanca and, for its era, one of the fastest four-seat piston singles certified.
It adds turbocharged running costs to the Viking's existing structural considerations. The turbocharged IO-540 runs hot, is expensive at overhaul and needs careful exhaust and turbocharger inspection. The wooden wing remains the thing that decides value: it must be hangared, must be inspected by someone who understands wood, and can be uneconomic to repair if water has got in. Without pressurisation the ceiling means oxygen for everyone aboard. Very few were built, so the fleet is tiny and parts come through specialists.
Compare with…
Put BELLANCA 17-31ATC side by side with up to two other models.
- BELLANCA 17-31ATC
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming TIO-540-A1A (turbocharged) |
| Horsepower | 300 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1970 |
| Production end | 1980 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 200 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 800 nm |
| Service ceiling | 24,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,200 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 58 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,045 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 595 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,325 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,280 lb |
| Usable fuel | 75 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 17.4 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $60,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $150,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $62,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $88,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 147 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 71 |
| Median year built | 1973.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 28.17 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 28.17 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 14 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 19.72 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 7 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 71 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 71 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 71 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 0.7 of 103 |
| Support | 3.3 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 5.1 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 28.36 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 11.65.
- Access: class median 767.75.
- Support: class median 141.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.57.
- 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.