Waco E series


The Waco E series is a small family of American-built cabin biplanes 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 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, giving the E series a high cruising speed for the period of up to. Production ceased in 1942.
Note: the Waco GXE 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 during World War II 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.

Variants

;ARE Aristocrat : Jacobs L-6
;HRE Aristocrat : Lycoming R-680
;SRE Aristocrat : Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Junior SB-2
;WRE Aristocrat : Wright R-975 - 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)