Similar in general layout to the aircraft that FBA had produced during World War I, the Type 17 was a conventional two-bay biplane with unequal-span, unstaggered wings and side-by-side open cockpits.

The pusher engine was mounted on struts in the interplane gap.

Some versions were built as amphibians, and others had fittings to allow them to be catapulted from warships.

In 1931, the US Coast Guard purchased an example for evaluation, and being pleased with the design, arranged for the type to be built under licence by the Viking Flying Boat Company in New Haven, Connecticut.

Six aircraft were eventually produced and served with the Coast Guard under the designation OO until the outbreak of World War II.