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The Waco 10/GXE/Waco O series was a range of three-seat open-cockpit biplanes built by the
Later aircraft used three-letter designations, the first denoting the engine (except for the two mailplanes), the second denoting the wing installed, S or T meaning Straight or Tapered wing, and the final O indicating it was a derivative of the 10. An -A suffix indicated an armed variant intended for export.
Apart from the water-cooled V-8 Curtiss and Hispano-Suiza engines, all of the rest were air-cooled radials.
Other engines were fitted experimentally, without unique designations, including the Rausie, Ryan-Siemens, and Milwaukee Tank engine. This last engine was an
The Waco 10/GXE/Waco O series was a range of three-seat open-cockpit biplanes built by the Advance Aircraft Company
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 C ...
, later the Waco Aircraft Company
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 C ...
.
Design and development
The Waco 10 was a larger span development of theWaco 9
The Waco 9 is an American-built three-seat biplane design that first flew in 1925.
Development
The Waco 9 was the first of the steel-tubed fuselage aircraft designs to be built by the Advance Aircraft Company, which became the Waco Aircraft Com ...
, both single-engined three-seat single-bay biplanes constructed around steel-tube frames. The wing covering was fabric, and both upper and lower planes carried ailerons, which were strut linked. The two passengers sat side by side in a cockpit under the upper wing and ahead of the pilot, who had a separate cockpit. It had a split-axle fixed undercarriage and a tailwheel. The main undercarriage was fitted with hydraulic shock absorbers, unusual at the time on a light aircraft. The fin could be trimmed on the ground to offset engine torque, and the tailplane could be trimmed in flight. Initially it was powered by a Curtiss OX-5
The Curtiss OX-5 was an early V-8 American liquid-cooled aircraft engine built by Curtiss. It was the first American-designed aircraft engine to enter mass production, although it was considered obsolete when it did so in 1917.Smith, 1981, pa ...
water-cooled 90° V-8 engine producing .
Its first flight was in 1927. It was numerically the most important type to be built by Waco, with at least 1,623 built over a period of 7 years from 1927 to 1933 and was fitted with a very large variety of engines of radial and V configuration.
Operational history
The Waco 10 turned out to have excellent handling, and there was a ready supply of war-surplus Curtiss engines. It was widely used for the popularisation of aeronautics through barnstorming and joyrides, and was also much used as a trainer and by small operators for charter flights.Variants
In 1928, after the Waco 10 had entered production, Waco changed its designation system so that the basic model 10, powered by aCurtiss OX-5
The Curtiss OX-5 was an early V-8 American liquid-cooled aircraft engine built by Curtiss. It was the first American-designed aircraft engine to enter mass production, although it was considered obsolete when it did so in 1917.Smith, 1981, pa ...
engine became the GXE.
Later aircraft used three-letter designations, the first denoting the engine (except for the two mailplanes), the second denoting the wing installed, S or T meaning Straight or Tapered wing, and the final O indicating it was a derivative of the 10. An -A suffix indicated an armed variant intended for export.
Apart from the water-cooled V-8 Curtiss and Hispano-Suiza engines, all of the rest were air-cooled radials.
Other engines were fitted experimentally, without unique designations, including the Rausie, Ryan-Siemens, and Milwaukee Tank engine. This last engine was an air-cooled
Air-cooled engines rely on the circulation of air directly over heat dissipation fins or hot areas of the engine to cool them in order to keep the engine within operating temperatures. In all combustion engines, a great percentage of the heat ge ...
version of the Curtiss OX-5, and was intended as an aircraft engine.
The JYM and JWM were mailplane derivatives with a 14" fuselage stretch.
In the unrelated 1990s The WACO Aircraft Company
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
in Forks, Washington
Forks, also previously known as the unincorporated town of Quillayute, is a city in southwest Clallam County, Washington, United States. The population was 3,335 at the 2020 census. It is named after the forks in the nearby Quillayute, Bogach ...
offered a homebuilt kit version of the ATO model.
The WACO 240-A was a straight-wing fighter, built for export, powered by Wright engine. At least six were bought by the Cantonese Chinese aviation services. They were armed with twin .30 Browning machine guns and had racks for five or two bombs.
There was also an export model WACO Pursuit 300T-A, with Wright or Wasp Jr engine.
Surviving aircraft
Specifications (Waco GXE)
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
(Partial listing, only covers most numerous types) *Alexander Eaglerock
The Alexander Eaglerock was a biplane produced in the United States in the 1920s by Alexander Aircraft Company of Colorado Springs, Colorado.Payne, Stephen, ed. ''Canadian Wings'' (Douglas & McIntyre, Ltd., 2006), p.162.
It was a fixed-gear th ...
*American Eagle A-101
The American A-1 and A-101 were American two and three-seat biplanes of the 1920s.
Design and development
The American Eagle A-1 was designed in late 1925 as a training aircraft to replace the World War I biplanes then in use by the Porterfield ...
*Brunner-Winkle Bird
The Brunner-Winkle Bird was a three-seat taxi and joy-riding aircraft produced in the US from 1928 to 1931.
Design and operation
The Model A version was powered by the ubiquitous Curtiss OX-5, and featured a welded steel-tube truss fuselage with ...
*Buhl-Verville CA-3 Airster
The Buhl-Verville CA-3 Airster (also known as the J4 Airster, after its engine), was a utility aircraft built in the United States in 1926, notable as the first aircraft to receive a type certificate in the US, (i.e. A.T.C. No. 1) issued by the A ...
*Command-Aire 3C3
The Command-Aire 3C3 and similar 4C3 and 5C3 are American three-seat open cockpit utility, training and touring biplanes developed by Command-Aire in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Design and Development
The Command-Aire did not at first app ...
*Parks P-1
The Parks P-1 was an American three-seat sport biplane that was built in the late 1920s.
Design and development
Based in St.Louis, pilot, salesman and entrepreneur Oliver Parks founded an air school, airline and aircraft manufacturing business ...
*Pitcairn Mailwing
The Pitcairn Mailwing family was a series of American mail carrier and three-seat sport utility biplane aircraft produced from 1927 to 1931.
Design and development
The Pitcairn Mailwings were developed to carry air mail for the United States P ...
*Spartan C3
The Spartan C3 is an American three-seat open-cockpit utility biplane from the late 1920s.
Design
The C3s fuselage and wing struts were built up from welded chromium-molybdenum alloy steel tubes, faired with wood battens. It had two open ...
*Stearman C2
The Stearman C2 was the second aircraft type designed by the Stearman Aircraft company. The aircraft first flew in 1927.
Design and development
The airframe of the C2 was virtually identical to the model C1. Differences included an aileron co ...
and C3
*Swallow New Swallow
The Swallow Airplane Swallow is an American-built general purpose biplane of the mid- to late 1920s.
Development
The Swallow Airplane Manufacturing Co was formed in 1923 to take over the business of the E.M. Laird Aviation Co. of Wichita, Kansa ...
* Travel Air 2000 and 4000
Related lists
*List of aircraft
The lists of aircraft are sorted in alphabetical order.
Further reading
The following reference sources, among many others, have been used to compile this list:
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* List of civil aircraft
References
Further reading
* * * {{WACO 1920s United States civil utility aircraft Aerobatic aircraft 10 Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1927