Waco Aircraft Ceases Operations

Lowflynjack

Lowflynjack

Final Approach
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Jack Fleetwood
It's a sad day for aviation. Waco closed it's doors and let it's employees go. AvBrief

I've been blessed to see many Wacos in the air. Such beautiful flying machines.

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Lowflynjack said:
It's a sad day for aviation. Waco closed it's doors and let it's employees go. AvWeb

I've been blessed to see many Wacos in the air. Such beautiful flying machines.

54921345508_f615955393_b.jpg

54700884203_cc535e91d5_b.jpg

54034044979_078cebcd8a_b.jpg
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All those in your photographs are original WACOs. Neither made nor supported by the company that just went out of business.
 
“Employees left work as usual on Tuesday and shortly afterward received an email telling them not to report for work on Wednesday. A sign was posted on the front door on Wednesday confirming the bad news. More information will be available on Friday, and some employees will be allowed to pick up personal items in the meantime.”
 
This suggests they were behind on employee pay and were afraid of people helping themselves.
 
Maybe the first hint was when they closed the on-airport restaurant at KBTL 'WACO Kitchen' - was a great spot for a 'flying date', while it lasted. Maybe a good thing I never got the job working on the Junkers replica. Wonder if they ever sold any?
 
FWIW, a new restaurant had opened recently in that upstairs space at the WACO hangar:
www.sflatincuisine.com

SF Latin American Cuisine at WACO Aircraft

Latin American Cuisine
www.sflatincuisine.com www.sflatincuisine.com
I was just there a month ago for a very nice dinner (too late in the day to see anything of the aircraft hangar, other than a view through the big window).
It's a really nice spot for dining, I hope they can continue, with whatever might happen with the hangar.
And, gotta wonder what will happen to the self-serve fuel, presumably operated by WACO. The big Duncan facility is the only other FBO there at KBTL.
 
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Roger Wilco said:
How are they inferior to “the originals?”
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WACO was the aviation equivalent of Packard automobiles in the 1930s. They made some nice flying airplanes.

When the new WACO started up, they had zero connection to the original company. They were just a group that wanted to build and sell new biplanes. They chose WACO because of how the WACO aircraft company ended their business: they didn't go bankrupt. They weren't bought out. The owners just decided after WWII that they didn't want to stay in business and they shut down. The Type certificates became public domain and the owners donated all documentation from the company's history including blueprints and design drawings to the Smithsonian.

Everything they needed was all out in the open and they didn't need to worry about copyright infringements.

The new WACO built the airplanes as an STC to the original public domain TCDS. But of all the WACO designs, for some reason they chose the YMF-5. I never understood why they chose that particular model, but they did. I've flown restored originals (used to own a 1933 UBF-2) and I've flown a lot of rides in new build YMF-5s. I never liked the YMF-5. It is like driving a truck compared to a nice sports car.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy they shut down. It's never a good thing when a GA company goes out of business. I'm just making the distinction between the true classic airplanes that Jack photographed and the company that just closed down.
 
Fearless Tower said:
Everything they needed was all out in the open and they didn't need to worry about copyright infringements.
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Unfortunately, even though everything was in the public domain they had a tendency to push their position that they were the singular contact for anything Waco, which alienated a number of original Waco owners. They even went as far to challenge an original Waco owner who upgraded his engine install with his own FAA approvals for not using their STC data, which resulted in an FAA Legal LOI being issued. But, I too hate to see any round engine aircraft lose support regardless the reason.
 
I frequently pass by WACO Field where the original company was located in Troy Ohio. Nice grass strip and museum. I have a Ball Cap with their Slogan. “Ask Any Pilot”.
 
Fearless Tower said:
WACO was the aviation equivalent of Packard automobiles in the 1930s. They made some nice flying airplanes.

When the new WACO started up, they had zero connection to the original company. They were just a group that wanted to build and sell new biplanes. They chose WACO because of how the WACO aircraft company ended their business: they didn't go bankrupt. They weren't bought out. The owners just decided after WWII that they didn't want to stay in business and they shut down. The Type certificates became public domain and the owners donated all documentation from the company's history including blueprints and design drawings to the Smithsonian.

Everything they needed was all out in the open and they didn't need to worry about copyright infringements.

The new WACO built the airplanes as an STC to the original public domain TCDS. But of all the WACO designs, for some reason they chose the YMF-5. I never understood why they chose that particular model, but they did. I've flown restored originals (used to own a 1933 UBF-2) and I've flown a lot of rides in new build YMF-5s. I never liked the YMF-5. It is like driving a truck compared to a nice sports car.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy they shut down. It's never a good thing when a GA company goes out of business. I'm just making the distinction between the true classic airplanes that Jack photographed and the company that just closed down.
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That’s a tidy summary of the story, Fearless. If your benchmark is the F-2, then I believe you when you write that the F-5 is less agile, as it is comparatively porky. But I have never flown an F-2, only an ATO and an F-5 (very different beasts). Other than those two WACOs, I’ve flown quite a number of airplanes and I would not describe the F-5 as truck-like. What you characterize as “inferior,” I might describe merely as different.

As for the company, my understanding is that a scion of the Rimowa luggage family sold-out and decided to start reviving old airplanes [squander his fortune]. He bought WACO as a starting point, with rather ambitious goals that included reproducing golden-age designs such as the Junkers F-13. As the owner of an F-5, I was initially optimistic. But when they spent millions on new facilities and restaurants etc. it seemed to me an omen of impending doom…and behold! A familiar tale repeats. We don’t know what the real story is behind the shutdown—maybe the guy lost it all gambling in Monte Carlo. Or maybe he just became frustrated when he discovered just how difficult it is to certify and produce aircraft, and decided to cut his losses.
 
Roger Wilco said:
We don’t know what the real story is behind the shutdown—maybe the guy lost it all gambling in Monte Carlo. Or maybe he just became frustrated when he discovered just how difficult it is to certify and produce aircraft, and decided to cut his losses.
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There have been no news so far regarding Junkers Aircraft in Germany owned by the same group. Will be interesting to see if there is any impact on the Junkers production there. They just recently got the Junkers A60 certified in Germany.
 
I wonder why they even went to SnF if the closure was imminent? Last hurrah because it was a sunk cost?
 
tsts4 said:
I wonder why they even went to SnF if the closure was imminent? Last hurrah because it was a sunk cost?
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Two of many strategies for a failing business:

1) Keep up appearances until the very end, hoping for... (a white knight, a better offer, the tides to turn)...
2) Start cutting back, telegraphing that things aren't right and possibly hurting sales while you conserve cash.

Neither one usually works in the end.
 
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