The Waco Aircraft Company (WACO) was an aircraft manufacturer located in Troy, Ohio, United States. Between 1920 and 1947, the company produced a wide range of civilian biplanes.
The company initially started under the name Weaver Aircraft Company of Ohio but changed its name to the Waco Aircraft Company in 1928/29.
Name WACO (referring to the aircraft) is usually pronounced "wah-co"Kobernuss, P.4 (rhymes with “taco”), not "way-co" like Waco, Texas, whose name is entirely unrelated.
Several companies operated under the Waco name, with the first company being the Weaver Aircraft Company, a firm founded by George E. Weaver, Clayton Bruckner, and Elwood Junkin in 1920 in Lorain and Medina, Ohio after they had already been collaborating for several years. In the spring of 1923 this became the Advance Aircraft Company in Troy, Ohio, after the departure of Weaver.
In 1929, it was changed from Advance Aircraft Company to Waco Aircraft Company. The firm is often confused with Western Aviation Company, the name of four unrelated aircraft enterprises in Chicago, Illinois; San Antonio, Texas; and Burbank, California.
History Origins and early success Waco's history started in 1919 when businessmen Clayton J. "Clayt" Brukner and Elwood "Sam" Junkin met barnstorming pilots Charles "Charley" William Meyers and George "Buck" Weaver. Although their initial floatplane design was a failure, they went on to found the Waco company in 1920 and established themselves as producers of reliable, rugged planes that were popular with travelling businessmen, postal services and explorers, especially after the company began producing closed-cabin biplane models after 1930 in addition to the open cockpit biplanes."ABOUT," WACO Aircraft Corp. website, retrieved February 5, 2017
The Waco name was extremely well represented in the U.S. civil aircraft registry between the wars, with more Wacos registered than the aircraft of any other company. Production types include open cockpit biplanes, cabin biplanes and cabin sesquiplanes (known by Waco as Custom Cabins) as well as numerous experimental types.
World War II During World War II, Waco produced large numbers of military gliders for the RAF and US Army Air Forces for airborne operations, especially during the Normandy Invasion and Operation Market Garden. The Waco CG-4 was the most numerous of their glider designs to be produced. At the same time Waco produced over 600 of its UPF-7 open biplanes and 21 VKS-7F cabin biplanes for the Civilian Pilot Training Program, which supplemented the output of the military training establishments. 42 privately owned models of sixteen types were impressed into service as light transports and utility aircraft with the USAAF under the common designation C-72/UC-72.
End of normal operations Waco ceased operations in 1947, having suffered the fate of a number of general aviation companies when an anticipated boom in aviation following World War II failed to develop. The final Waco relied on an experimental Franklin engine which, with the cancellation of other contracts became so expensive, that the Aristocraft, which relied on it, was cancelled.
Revivals Modern European WACOs
The Waco brand name was briefly revived, in the 1960s and early 1970s—for a scheme to produce, assemble, re-assemble or market a series of modern, all-metal Italian and French lightplanes (semi-monocoque, enclosed-cabin, low-wing, single-engine) under licence in the United States. The program was headed by a "Mr. Berger," and the enterprise was known (in 1968) as Waco Aircraft Co., a subsidiary of Allied Aero Industries, Inc., and based at Pottstown-Limerick Airport, Pottstown, Pennsylvania, with dealers in Connecticut, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas, California, and Ontario, Canada.WACO ad, "Made for you who demand a unique airplane of superb quality," July 1968, Flying Magazine, retrieved February 5, 2017 The European WACOs—in some cases replacing the original Lycoming engines with less-popular Franklin engines (Mr. Berger was involved with Franklin) -- were to be manufactured (or at least assembled or re-assembled) in the U.S. by WACO Aircraft Company at Syracuse, New York. Only several dozen (perhaps 65–150) of these European-origin aircraft were sold as WACOs before the death of Mr. Berger put an end to the program. These planes included:"Short history of the project," SIAI Marchetti S205 - S208 Pilots & Owners Association website, retrieved February 5, 2017van der Veen, Hendrik (Netherlands), "SIAI Marchetti S.205 - S.208 Aircraft," updated February 23, 2015, enthusiasts' site, retrieved February 5, 2017Hellman, Judy, "WACO VELA," (pilot report and review), September 1968, Flying Magazine, pp.58 et.seq., retrieved February 5, 2017"SIAI-MARCHETTI S.205 (WACO 5.220)-S.2018," November 30, 1999, Plane & Pilot Magazine, retrieved February 5, 2017"SOCATA 'RALLYE'-WACO 'MINERVA'," November 30, 1999, Plane & Pilot Magazine, retrieved February 5, 2017Davisson, Budd, "WACO METEOR/S.F. 260: And still Champeen," (Marchetti S.F.260 Pilot Report) September, 1977, Air Progress Magazine, retrieved February 5, 2017 from author's personal website, Airbum.com WACO Sirrus – a relabeled Italian SIAI-Marchetti S.205 comparable to the Piper PA-28 Cherokee line, a four-seat touring airplane offered with fixed or retractable gear, and Franklin or Lycoming engines ranging from 180 to 220 horsepower. WACO Vela – the Italian SIAI Marchetti S.208, an enhanced, five-seat version of the Sirrus / S.205, with 260 horsepower, retractable landing gear, and flush-riveted, laminar-flow wings—arguably in the same class as the Beech Bonanza line. It came with an autopilot as standard equipment—unusual for aircraft of its class, at that time—and the first fault-annunciator panel in a general aviation airplane. WACO Meteor – a relabeled Italian SIAI Marchetti F.250 / SF.260 fast, acrobatic, three-seat sport / trainer / touring plane, later offered, by others, in manufactured metal versions, metal and wood kitplanes, and as a plans-built wooden aircraft (as for instance, the SF.260, and Sequoia]). Marketed in the United States under the name Waco TS-250-3 Meteor, only four were shipped to the U.S.van der Veen, Hendrik (Netherlands), "SF_260 information from the Netherlands,", updated December 31, 2007, enthusiasts' site, retrieved February 5, 2017 WACO Minerva – relabeled French Morane-Saulnier MS.880 Rallye Minerva, a four-seat STOL aircraft designed for use in and out of very small, unimproved landing strips, later produced by French SOCATA as the SOCATA Rallye. (Reportedly, only 3 WACO Minervas were delivered.)
Modern production The WACO Classic Aircraft company (unrelated to the original Waco) began building its WACO Classic YMF in 1986, an upgraded version based on Waco's original type certified design.
Surviving aircraft A large number of survivors exist, with the largest single collection residing at the Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum at Dauster Field, Creve Coeur, near St Louis, Missouri.
Closure On April 29, 2026, Waco suddenly announced that it would shut down all manufacturing and aircraft maintenance services. Employees at the company’s Battle Creek, MI factory were abruptly notified of the closure.
Models + Engine designations (1930–1942) Letter Engine A Jacobs L-6MB B Wright R-540 C Wright R-760 D Wright R-760-E1 E Wright R-760-E2 H Lycoming R-680-E3 I Kinner B-5 J Wright R-975-E1 K Kinner K-5 M Menasco C-4 O Kinner C-5 P Jacobs LA-1 Q Continental A-70 R Warner Scarab S Pratt & Whitney R-985 U Continental R-670, W-670-K, W-670-6 V Continental W-670-M W Wright R-975-E3 Y Jacobs L-4MB Z Jacobs L-5MB
Note: Waco civilian designations describe the configuration of the aircraft. The first letter lists the engine used, the second the specific type, and the third the general series. The coding system was changed in 1929 with several letters reassigned, and later with the introduction of the Custom Cabin series, the third letter 'C' was initially replaced with C-S (Cabin-Standard) and finally S. The numeral suffix represents the first year of production if it is 6 or higher (6=1936), or a sub type if 2 or less. Thus EGC-7 is a Wright R-760-E2 () engined, cabin biplane airframe, custom cabin model first manufactured in 1937.
Many Waco Cabin Biplanes that were originally sold as civilian aircraft, were impressed into military service in World War II. The United States Army Air Forces classified theirs regardless of type as Waco C-72s, with type letters identifying specific models. Other countries used other designations for their own Wacos.
Open cockpit biplanes and monoplanes Waco CootieSingle seat biplane/parasol monoplane, 1 produced, then re-built Waco models 4 through 7 Used many Curtiss JN-4 parts with new interchangeable wing panels and powered by a Curtiss OX-5. Waco 8 First Waco cabin biplane, powered by Liberty - 1 built Waco 9 First mass-production model, steel-tube framing, powered by OX-5, equipped for EDO floats. Many re-engined. 270 built. Miss Pittsburgh
Waco 10 Most produced model of any Waco aircraft, 1,623 built between 1927 and 1933. Refinement of Waco 9 with Curtiss OX-5 V8 engine. Redesignated GXE by Waco in 1928. When letter designations were used, a final letter M indicated it was a mailplane, and the middle letter of S indicated a straight "Hershey bar" wing, while a T indicated the model was a taperwing, with the chord at the wingtips being less than half of the root chord. Waco 240: 1 conversion of Waco 10 with Continental W-670 radial engine. Waco ASO: Waco 10 variant with Wright J-5 radial engine, known as J-5 Straightwing, Waco Sport, and Whirlwind Waco. 95 built. Waco BSO: Variant of ASO Wright J-6-5 radial engine. 45 built. Waco CSO: Variant of ASO with Wright J-6-7 radial engine. 59 built. Waco DSO: Variant of ASO with Hispano-Suiza A/E V8 engine. 62 built. Waco HSO: Variant of ASO with Packard DR-980 engine. 1 built. Waco ATO: Taperwing variant of ASO. 54 built. Waco CTO: Taperwing variant of CSO. 35 built. Waco HTO: Modified from HSO. 1 built. Waco JTO: Wright J-6-9. 1 built. Waco JYO: JTO variant for evaluation by U.S. Navy. 2 built.
Waco Mailplanes Waco JWM: Straightwing mailplane with Wright R-975 engine. Derivative of ASO with 14" fuselage stretch. 2 built. Waco JYM: Taperwing mailplane with Wright J-6-9 radial engine. Derivative of ATO with 14" fuselage stretch. 4 built for Northwest Airways
Waco A series Waco IBA: Improved KBA, side by side two seat biplane with optional canopy and Kinner B-5 engine. 3 built. Waco KBA: Kinner K-5 radial engine. 50 built. Waco PBA: IBA variant with Jacobs LA-1 radial engine. 4 built. Waco RBA: IBA variant with Warner Scarab radial engine. 4 built. Waco UBA: IBA variant with Continental R-670 radial engine. 6 built. Waco PLA: Improved IBA, known as Waco Sportsman, with Jacobs LA-1 radial engine and greater range. 4 built. Waco ULA: PLA variant with Continental R-670 radial engine. 1 built.
Waco D series Waco CHD Multipurpose military biplane with Wright J-6-7 Whirlwind radial engine. Waco JHD Multipurpose military biplane with Wright J-6-9 Whirlwind radial engine. 6 exported to Uruguay. Waco S2HD Multipurpose military export biplane with Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior SB radial engine. 1 exported to Cuba Waco S3HD Multipurpose military biplane with Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior TB. 1 built. Waco S3HD-A Armed variant of S3HD but otherwise similar, 4 exported to Cuba. Waco WHD Multipurpose military biplane with Wright J-6-9 Whirlwind engine. 5 built, including 4 exported to Nicaragua. Waco CMD Multipurpose military biplane with Wright J-6-7 Whirlwind. None built.
Waco F series
Waco OBF: Kinner C-5 engine. Unknown if built. Waco PBF: Jacobs LA-1 engine. 4 built. Waco TBF: Kinner R-5(?) engine. None built.