WACO Classic Aircraft
Encyclopedia
Battle Creek, Michigan
Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek Rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area , which encompasses all of Calhoun county...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, is a manufacturer of general aviation
General aviation
General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...
airplanes
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
.
WACO Classic Aircraft builds, in relatively small numbers, a three-seat biplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
, the WACO Classic YMF
Waco F series
-External links:*...
, based upon the original manufacturing plans which were filed by WACO
Waco Aircraft Company
The Waco Aircraft Company was an aircraft manufacturer located in Troy, Ohio, USA. Between 1919 and 1947, the company produced a wide range of civilian biplanes....
(Waco Aircraft Company) with the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
and thus available. The aircraft are constructed on the airport at the W. K. Kellogg Regional Airport in Battle Creek, Michigan
Battle Creek, Michigan
Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek Rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area , which encompasses all of Calhoun county...
. The company also repairs original "classic" WACOs.
While the aircraft it builds is a longstanding design, WACO Classic Aircraft has upgraded many systems, such as the brakes, to newer and safer technology. They are built with much of the original hand construction methods and are sought after as a classical open-cockpit aircraft, but with modern digital electronics. To date, Waco Classic only offers one of several models of Wacos that were built. Over 100 new YMF-5C aircraft had been completed by 2007.
In June 2009 the company announced the improved YMF-5D version, powered by a Jacobs R-755-A2
Jacobs R-755
|-See also:-Bibliography:*Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9*Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II. London. Studio Editions Ltd, 1989. ISBN 0-517-67964-7...
300 hp engine. The type was to be type certified
Type certificate
A Type Certificate, is awarded by aviation regulating bodies to aerospace manufacturers after it has been established that the particular design of a civil aircraft, engine, or propeller has fulfilled the regulating bodies' current prevailing airworthiness requirements for the safe conduct of...
in October 2009 and features a new Sensenich propellor, a deluxe leather interior, new lightweight carbon fiber wheel pants and fairings, an upgraded avionics package and a cup holder.
In January 2011 the company announced that it would put the Great Lakes Model 2T-1A-1/2 biplane back into production. The aircraft had not been available since 1980. The aircraft will incorporate several changes including metal wing spar
Spar
In sailing, a spar is a pole of wood, metal or lightweight materials such as carbon fiber used on a sailing vessel. Spars of all types In sailing, a spar is a pole of wood, metal or lightweight materials such as carbon fiber used on a sailing vessel. Spars of all types In sailing, a spar is a...
s. It will be offered in two models: a touring model, with a Lycoming IO-360-B1F6 engine; and a higher-performance sport model, with a Lycoming AEIO-360-B1F6 engine.