The Waco Mailplanes are US-built open-cockpit biplane mailplanes from the late 1920s derived from the Waco 10 sports biplanes.

Development

In order to meet the demand for mailplanes, Waco aircraft developed two models during 1929, the JYM and the JWM. The JYM was a taperwing model based on the earlier

ATO ATO may refer to: Technology *Abort to Orbit, an intact abort procedure for Space Shuttle launches *Arsenic trioxide a potent chemotherapeutic agent for acute promyelocytic leukemia * ATO fuse * Automatic train operation * Assisted take off Milit ...

design but with a 14-inch fuselage stretch to provide further cargo capacity compared with the earlier design. It was powered by a

Wright J-6-9 The Wright R-975 Whirlwind was a series of nine-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by the Wright Aeronautical division of Curtiss-Wright. These engines had a displacement of about and power ratings of . They were the largest memb ...

engine and had a single seat cockpit for the pilot.Aerofiles The JWM was a straight-wing model based on the ASO, also with a 14-inch longer fuselage and was fitted with a

Wright R-975 Wright is an occupational surname originating in England. The term 'Wright' comes from the circa 700 AD Old English word 'wryhta' or 'wyrhta', meaning worker or shaper of wood. Later it became any occupational worker (for example, a shipwright i ...

powerplant.

Operational history

Four Waco JYM aircraft were delivered to

Northwest Airways Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airlines- ...

(later Northwest Airlines) in 1929 and were operated on the CAM-9 airmail route from

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

via Milwaukee, Madison and La Crosse.bluegrassairlines All four Waco JYM's still exist, with the third JYM ''NC631N'' on display at the Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum (HARM) at Dauster Field near St Louis, Missouri, wearing its 1929 NWAL CAM-9 route markings.Ogden, 2007, p. 331 Waco JWM NX8550 HARM St Louis 10

One Waco JWM aircraft was built. The sole survivor ''NX8550'' is also preserved at HARM, wearing the markings of the "Art Davis Air Circus".

Specifications (JYM)

References

Notes

Bibliography

*
Waco aircraft at Aerofiles.com
{{WACO 1920s United States mailplanes M Biplanes