The Beechcraft Staggerwing was very fast for its time, and had very short take off and landing runs. In 1935 a B17L was experimentally re-equipped with a set of EDO type floats, each with a displacement of 452 pounds. With the onset of WWII, a great number of civil machines were requisitioned by the government for military use. Some float Staggerwings had this fate, along with their land based equivalents, and were given the military designations of GB-1 and GB-2. These airplanes were used both in the mainland USA and in more remote areas of the country, in Alaska. Their active service was quite extensive: they had to look out for potential saboteurs entering the country and their attempts to damage large reservoirs.