The Waco E series is a small family of American-built cabin

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 ...

s built between 1939 and 1942, which differed primarily by engine installation.

Development and design

The E series was the final development of the prewar Waco line of biplane designs. A full four-seater, it had the best performance of any of the Wacos. First flown in 1939, it had a much slimmer and more streamlined

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

than earlier Waco C and S models and heavily staggered unequal-span parallel-chord

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

s with rounded tips. Wings were plywood-skinned, and also had wire cross-bracing between the wings in place of the solid

strut A strut is a structural component commonly found in engineering, aeronautics, architecture and anatomy. Struts generally work by resisting longitudinal compression, but they may also serve in tension. A stay is sometimes used as a synonym for ...

s used on previous models. Engines varied in power from , giving the E series a high cruising speed for the period of up to . Production ceased in 1942. Note: the

Waco GXE The Waco 10/GXE/Waco O series was a range of three-seat open-cockpit biplanes built by the Waco Aircraft Company, Advance Aircraft Company, later the Waco Aircraft Company. Design and development The Waco 10 was a larger span development of th ...

of 1929/30 was an unrelated biplane design with non-staggered wings

Operational history

The E series was sold to wealthier private pilot owners who required the comfort of a fully enclosed cabin and a high cruising speed, combined with a longer range. Because of the type's good performance, 15 examples were impressed by the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

for communications work as the UC-72. Several of the USAAF examples were returned to civilian use after the end of the war and five E series aircraft remained airworthy in 2001.Simpson p. 576

Variants

(Source : Aerofiles) ;ARE Aristocrat : Jacobs L-6 (4 built, one impressed as UC-72A) ;HRE Aristocrat :

Lycoming R-680 The Lycoming R-680 is a nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, the first aero engine produced by Lycoming. The engine was produced in two types, the E and B series; both are essentially the same. The B4E was available in a trainer version wi ...

(5 built, 2 impressed as UC-72C) ;SRE Aristocrat : Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior SB-2 (21 built, 12 impressed as UC-72) ;WRE Aristocrat :

Wright R-975 Wright is an occupational surname originating in England and Scotland. 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 ...

- model offered to potential customers, but none built

Impressed aircraft

;UC-72:12 impressed Waco SRE for USAAF ;UC-72A:One impressed Waco ARE ;UC-72C:Two impressed Waco HRE

Specifications (SRE)

Notes

References

*Green, William, The Aircraft of the World, 1965, MacDonald & Co (Publishers) Ltd, ISBN none *Simpson, Rod, Airlife's World Aircraft, 2001, Airlife Publishing Ltd,

External links

Details and photographs of the Waco E series on Aerofiles
{{Waco aircraft E series 1930s United States civil utility aircraft Sesquiplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1939