WACO
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WACO is also the call sign of a radio station in Waco, Texas.
WACO (short for Weaver Aircraft Company of Ohio) was an aircraft company located in Troy, Ohio. Between 1919 and 1946, the company produced a wide range of civilian biplanes.
WACO's history started in 1919 when businessmen Clayton Brukner and Elwood Junkin met established barnstorming pilots Charley Meyers and George Weaver. Although their initial floatplane design was a failure, they went on to found the WACO company in 1920 and (after overcoming some financial and technical trouble) soon established themselves as producers of reliable, rugged planes that were popular with travelling businessmen, postal services and explorers, especially after the company switched to producing closed-cabin biplanes after 1924.
During World War 2, Waco produced large numbers of glider towplanes that were used by the RAF and US Air Force for airborne operations, especially during the Normandy Invasion and Operation Market Garden.
Today Waco (with sister company Centennial Aviation) is reborn and builds a small number of aircraft based upon the original manufacturing plans which were filed with the library of congress and thus available. The aircraft are constructed on the airport at the Battle Creek / Kalamazoo airport located in Battle Creek, Michigan. They also repair original, sometimes called "classic" WACO's. Many systems, like brakes, were upgraded to newer and safer technology. They are built in much of the original hand construction methods and are sought after as a classical open-cockpit aircraft, but with modern electronics inside.
External links
- Waco Air Museum Troy, Ohio (http://www.wacoairmuseum.org)
- The Spirit of Adventure: Flying the USA and Europe, low and slow in a Waco open-cockpit biplane (http://www.michaelmccafferty.com/adventures)
- Wright State University's archive of Waco records (http://www.libraries.wright.edu/special/manuscripts/ms109.html)
- AeroSpace Show - (RTP-TV 2003) Video Story On Waco BiPlane (http://www.rtptv.homestead.com/rtpcarolinabarnstormers.html)
- Waco Classic (http://www.wacoclassic.com/whatsnew.html)
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