Warbird Information Exchange

Seems like I've heard mention of a WACO reference book on some of the WACO fly-in threads. Seems like a good addition to the library of a warbirder who's a new WACO fan. Anybody got anything on this?
I'm going to bed and try to think about some other airplanes than the dozen or so growing salt on a certain coastal island city.
Doug Ratchford

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"I love the smell of 100LL in the morning."

Waco Book

Also go to Amazon.com and search books for " Waco Brandly " you will get the results as I mention below.

Bid high....these can exceed $75 in ratty condition. This is the reference book. There was a series books by Ray Brandly....The F series, The Taperwing, The Cabin series, and a general Waco production book these were abourt 5/16" thick. The linked "blue book" is about 1/2" thick soft cover. The first edtion of same "blue book" had a white dust jacket and hard cover. It is coveted and can exceed $150 pending condition.
There also is a 2 volume set authored by Fred Kobernuss that covers in voluminous boring (to some) detail the early history and drops off around '33 when the author suddenly passed away. Scarce little information in these of the planes we see today....mainly up through the Tens and the move to the Peters Ave. factory (1930).

Now there is in the skunk works a new book being compiled .....when available is unknown and that all we'll say about that for now.

No bidding necessary at Abe Books:
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchR ... &x=48&y=14

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Roger Cain
www.sfahistory.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stearman/


We must limit politicians to two terms:
one in office and one in jail.

I still have a LOT of the Original Waco company archives, for entire range of its history. This even includes the PRE-history, with a whole pile of original 1914-1917! handwritten letters between Junkin and Brukner, back to the days when they were teenagers and just THINKING about designing and selling their own aircraft designs... who they worked for, how they had no money and one subsidized the other's training, , where they learned to fly and design aircraft. Then the file drawers go on with Original documents forming the Company, the FIRST sales contract for first aircraft they sold, all kinds of designs, blueprints, letters, some rare photos, correspondence,commercial and military documents right through WWII, etc etc. Fascinating historical archives. Of course it includes many of the Original Weaver and Advance Aircraft records, too. Always open to offers of trade or sale.
My absolute Favorite Waco archival file, is the folder marked by Brukner as "The Nut File," in which he kept the many bizarre, imaginative, and "NUT" designs, and offers of the patent rights & designs to a lot of Zany aircraft designs and patents. From "fall-out-of-your-chair" funny, to shockingly prophetic and years beyond the contemporary technology.

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hundreds of images of aero art, memorabilia, photos and artifacts at;
www.memaerobilia.com

John Eney and I are currently writing the definative book on Waco Aircraft. This book will include the complete history, a listing of every Waco manufactured, details on every engine used by Waco, propellers used by Waco, breakdown of paint schemes by year, complete list of Wacos used for air racing, history on the factories and their various locations, 3-view drawings of all the models, biographies on the people who flew and worked for Waco as well as tons of never before published photos. The book will be in excess of 500 pages and will be the book to own especially if you own a Waco or are restoring one.

I have in my posession the complete sales sheets on every Waco made since 1929 detailing color scheme, engine, propeller, instruments, interior and the list of owners at least up through 1948. In addition, I am comfortable in saying that with nearly 10,000 Waco photos in my collection as well as running the oldest Waco Club (National Waco Club - 50 years), I can help anyone out there with any Waco questions.

I've had a bit of fun with a Waco this year, a 1929 ATO, re-engined with a Wright R-760-8, based in Ottawa/Gatineau.



I love the way it rolls, and the way the wires scream at 100 mph+. This photo was taken at the VWoC Open House on Sept 20.

So, wacoykc, any idea where I can still get 5.00 x 30 tires?

Dave

I will ask around as generally these have all been short term runs by various tire companies. You should bring the Taperwing the the 50th National Waco Club Reunion the week of June 23-28, 2009. This will be the largest gathering of Wacos ever and we expect close to 75 Wacos attending.

Here is my brother's 1930 Waco CRG NC600Y that we have owned for 44 years. Built to win the 1930 Ford Air Tour. Placed second flown by Johnny Livingston.


This is my wife's 1930 Waco RNF NC663Y that she purchased 3 years ago and learned to fly in. The airplane has about 700hrs total time since 1930 and she is the 5th owner.


This is my 1935 Waco YKC-S NC14620 that I have owned and flown the last 10 years. This airplane was originally the Waco Factory demonstrator for this model and spent most of its life on the west coast. It is one of two Waco YKC-S's still flying.

WACOYKC,

Nice collection of Waco's in your family. This is my friend Byron Hight's YKC, but it hasn't flown for the last four to five years due to a cracked exhaust manifold. Disregard the copyright date, that was just from when I posted the picture.

_________________
Roger Cain
www.sfahistory.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stearman/


We must limit politicians to two terms:
one in office and one in jail.

Thanks Roger...great photo of NC14000. An exhaust manifold is literally a phone call away from getting fixed. Sorry to hear it's been down so long. We also have a few more Wacos in the family:

1930 RNF NC863V that we are restoring currently. Wings/tail covered and painted. Fuselage on gear with all woodwork and sheetmetal done. Running control cables now.

1927 GXE/ASO NC3782 is an airplane that we bought about 14 years ago and have been collecting parts for.

1929 Waco ATO NC719E owned by my brother's father-in-law and his partner. One of two Taperwings originally owned by Bettie Lund. Flyable.

1940 Waco UPF-7 NC29300 again owned by my brother's father-in-law. Older restoration that gets flown frequently.

Great Stuff!

Waco airplanes have such class.


I got acquainted with the QCF-2 prototype, N11241, several years ago. It was recently sold and moved away...

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Zane Adams
There I was at 20,000 ft, upside down and out of ammunition.
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Now owned by Chris and Scott Woods. They also have 3 Waco UBF-2's and are restoring two more. Scott is the President (elected a week ago) of the Western Waco Association.

Wonderful collection, wacoykc!

Interesting that your brother's CRG was owned by Johnny Livingston -- so was our (Vintage Wings of Canada) ATO. At one point he had straight wings put on it and operated it on floats, in the Hudson River I believe.

The Fly-in sounds interesting. It's a bit of a hike, but do-able. The airplane sees a fairly heavy display commitment, so we'd have to wait and see. I'd love to meet and correspond with 75 Waco owners, though. That's certain to be fun and useful.

Do you know if there was any sort of airframe manual/pilot's notes for a 1929 ATO?

Another question: all we got with the purchase was an engine manual for a later R-760E. We have a R-760-8 installed, so I have finally been able to find the correct 1930 first edition engine manual. But the engine has a Navy Yard data plate on it. A fellow I was speaking to said this means the engine was probably off a N3N biplane, and probably has the supercharger removed. Supercharger removed? Our panel has no MP gauge, so it's difficult to tell, other than the RPM, which never goes above 1800. Can you tell me more about this?

Thanks,

Dave

Johnny Livingston did not own our Waco CRG...he flew it for the Waco Aircraft Company in the Tour.

As far as the 50th Reunion next year, there will be alot more then 75 owners there...probably closer to 300 but around 75 airplanes. A 235 Wright does not have a supercharger and yes, your engine is off an N3N. A 350hp Wright R760E-2 has a supercharger and this is what we have installed on the CRG.

The Wright manuals are not too difficult to come by. I see them on EBAY and you can probably buy one from the place here in Ohio that advertises manuals in Trade-A-Plane 9cannot remember their name). I sell Wright
J-5 manuals and a couple others but am not sure if I have one for a straight R-760-8.

The National Waco Club Forum is a great resource for any Waco questions concerning maintenance on the airplanes, engines, props, however you must be a member to gain access.

As far as a pilot manual....there are none for ANY model of Waco. The is a very limited "Instruction Manual" for the Taperwing that basically tells how to rig the airplane, service the landing gear and that's about it. Almost every Waco Instruction Manual is that way. They apparently expected you to be able to fly one and/or work on one if you could afford to buy one.

The Woods recently (Sept. 19-21) hosted the Western Waco Reunion at the Petaluma Airport, and the first three planes pictured here are theirs from that Sunday, the last one is registered to Cannon Braatz.

_________________
Roger Cain
www.sfahistory.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stearman/


We must limit politicians to two terms:
one in office and one in jail.