The Great Lakes Sport Trainer is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a ...

trainer and aerobatic aircraft. It was originally produced in large numbers before the company building it went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

in the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

in 1933. Owing to its continuing popularity, however, it was eventually placed back into production in the 1970s and again in 2011 by

WACO Classic Aircraft The WACO Classic Aircraft Corporation is an American aircraft manufacturer, located in Battle Creek, Michigan. It was founded in 1983 as the Classic Aircraft Corporation and is now called the WACO Aircraft Corporation. WACO Classic Aircraft bu ...

Development and design

The Great Lakes Aircraft Corporation of

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...

produced a design for a small two-seat sports/trainer in early 1929, with the first prototype flying in March 1929.Donald 1997, p.467. The resulting aircraft, designated 2-T-1 was a single bay

of mixed, fabric-covered construction and with a tailskid undercarriage. Power was by a single Cirrus III inline engine (as the

Detroit Aircraft Corporation The Detroit Aircraft Corporation was incorporated in Detroit, Michigan on July 10, 1922, as the Aircraft Development Corporation. The name was changed in 1929. The Detroit corporation owned the entire capital stock of the Ryan Aircraft Corp., Air ...

, the holding company for Great Lakes, also held the American rights to the Cirrus, so all Sports Trainers were originally sold with Cirrus engines). History of the Great Lakes Sport Trainer
Retrieved 2 April 2008. Initial testing showed that the aircraft was tail heavy, so after the first four aircraft were built, the upper wing was swept back. In January 2011, WACO Classic Aircraft announced that it will put the Great Lakes Model 2T-1A-1/2 model biplane back into production. The aircraft had not been available since 1980. The aircraft will incorporate several changes including metal wing

spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...

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-B1G6 engine. Work on the new production model was completed in June 2013 and the base price announced as US$245,000.

Operational history

The aircraft proved very successful, with about 250 built before construction ended. It was highly maneuverable even on the relatively modest power of a Cirrus engine. A 1929 Great Lakes Model 2T1a held for many years the world record for consecutive outside loops, a total of 131, set by Jim Moss flying the Hunt Special which by the early 1930s had been highly modified and re-powered with a Warner Scarab 165 7 cylinder radial engine.Davisson, Budd
"The Great, Great Lakes"
Air Progress, July 1975 The Great Lakes continued to be popular well after production ended, and many aircraft adopted more powerful engines, particularly the Jacobs

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...

s. Eventually, in the 1960s, the rights for the Sport Trainer were acquired by Harvey Swack, who offered plans of the aircraft for sale to homebuilders. In 1972, Swack sold the rights on to Doug Champlin, who set up a reconstituted Great Lakes Aircraft Company to produce a revised version meeting the current airworthiness requirements, powered by modern Lycoming engines and revised materials of construction (including the use of

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three v ...

instead of

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfam ...

). The first of the new production aircraft, the Model 2T-1A-1, powered by a 140 hp engine was certified in May 1973, with production starting in October that year. A more powerful version, the 2T-1A-2 followed in July 1974. In 1978, production was divided between Wichita, Kansas, and Enid, Oklahoma, with the intent on relocation to Florida. Rights to the Sport Trainer continued to switch hands, resulting in production moving several times. By 1980, 137 Sport Trainers had been built.Taylor, J.W.R. 1980, p.347-348 Production finally finished in 1985.

Variants

;Model 2T-1 :Original production. 85 hp (63 kW) American Cirrus III engine. Small tail. Approximately 40 built. ;Model 2T-1A :Revised version with enlarged tail surfaces and 90 hp (67 kW) American Cirrus Ace engine. About 200 built. ;Model 2T-1A-1 :New production (1973 on) version. Powered by 140 hp (104 kW)

Lycoming O-320 The Lycoming O-320 is a large family of naturally aspirated, air-cooled, four-cylinder, direct-drive engines produced by Lycoming Engines. They are commonly used on light aircraft such as the Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee. Different variants ...

engine. ;Model 2T-1A-2 :More powerful version - powered by 180 hp (134 kW)

Lycoming IO-360 The Lycoming O-360 is a family of four-cylinder, direct-drive, horizontally opposed, air-cooled, piston aircraft engines. Engines in the O-360 series produce between 145 and 225 horsepower (109 to 168 kW), with the basic O-360 producing ...

engine. ;Model 2T-1A-E :Homebuilt Experimental Plans-built ;Model 2T-1E :95 hp (71 kW) American Cirrus Ensign engine. About twelve built. ;X :A 2T-1E used for aero-engine testing. ;Model 2T-1MS : Menasco Pirate powered two-seat version, one example (registration of ''NC 304Y'') airworthy at

Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome The Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome is a living museum in Rhinebeck, New York. It owns many examples of airworthy aircraft of the Pioneer Era, World War I and the Golden Age of Aviation between the World Wars, and multiple examples of roadworthy antiqu ...

is fitted with Goodyear "airwheel" low-pressure main gear tires, and was a favorite aircraft of Cole Palen, the museum's founder. ;Model 2T-1R :Homebuilt variant with a Ranger 6-440-5. ;Model 2T-2 Speedster :Racing version of 2T-1-A. Powered by Cirrus Hi-Drive and straight top wing. Later rebuilt as Model 2T-1E.Great Lakes
''Aerofiles.'' Retrieved 29 March 2008 BabyGreatLakes-2T-1A-2

;WACO Classic 2T-1A-1/2 :New production model starting in 2011. There will be two models, a touring model, with a Lycoming IO-360-B1G6 engine and a higher-performance sport model, with a Lycoming AEIO-360-B1G6 engine

Specifications (Model 2T-1A-2)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Donald, David (editor). ''The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft''. Aerospace Publishing. 1997. . * Taylor, J.W.R. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976-77''. London: Jane's, 1976. . * Taylor, J.W.R. ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1980-81''. London: Jane's, 1980. .

External links

*
Type Certificate
{{Authority control 1920s United States civil trainer aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Sport Trainer Aerobatic aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1929