Waco E series

Aircraft Picture - Airworthy 1941-built Waco SRE at Poplar Grove Airport, near Belvidere, Illinois, in August 2010

Role: Four-seat cabin biplane
National origin: United States
Manufacturer: Waco Aircraft Company
First flight: 1939
Introduction: 1940
Status: some still flying in 2011
Primary user: private owner pilots
Produced: 1939-1942
Number built: 30
Unit cost: $18,000 (SRE)
Developed from: Waco C series

The Waco E series is a small family of American-built cabin biplanes built between 1939 and 1942.

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 than earlier Waco C and S models and heavily staggered unequal-span parallel-chord wings with rounded tips. Wings were plywood-skinned, and also had wire cross-bracing between the wings in place of the solid struts used on previous models.

Engines varied in power from 285 to 450 hp (213 to 336 kW), giving the E series a high cruising speed for the period of up to 195 mph (314 km/h). Production ceased in 1942.

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, 16 examples were impressed by the United States Army Air Force during World War II for communications work as the C-72.

Several examples were civilianised after the end of the war and five E series aircraft remained airworthy in 2001.

Variants

(Source : Aerofiles)

ARE Aristocrat
300 hp (224 kW) Jacobs L-6 (4 built, one impressed as UC-72A)
HRE Aristocrat
285 hp (213 kW) Lycoming R-680 (5 built, 2 impressed as UC-72C)
SRE Aristocrat
400 hp (298 kW) Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior SB-2 (21 built, 13 impressed as UC-72)
WRE Aristocrat
420 hp (313 kW) Wright R-975 - model offered to potential customers, but none built

Note: the Waco GXE of 1929/30 was an unrelated biplane design with non-staggered wings

Specifications (SRE)

Data from Simpson p. 576

General characteristics

Crew: 1 pilot
Capacity: 3 passengers
Length: 27 ft 10 in (8.48 m)
Wingspan: 34 ft 9 in (10.59 m)
Height: 8 ft 8 in (2.64 m)
Empty weight: 2,734 lb (1,240 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 4,200 lb (1,905 kg)
Powerplant: 1 x— Pratt & Whitney R-985 SB-2 nine-cylinder radial air-cooled piston, 400 hp (300 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 202 mph (325 km/h; 176 kn)
Cruise speed: 195 mph (169 kn; 314 km/h)
Stall speed: 57 mph (50 kn; 92 km/h)
Range: 1,070 mi (930 nmi; 1,722 km)
Service ceiling: 23,500 ft (7,163 m)
Rate of climb: 1,550 ft/min (7.9 m/s)

Green, William, The Aircraft of the World, 1965, MacDonald & Co (Publishers) Ltd, ISBN none
Simpson, Rod, Airlife's World Aircraft, 2001, Airlife Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1-84037-115-3

Waco E series Pictures

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Source: WikiPedia