Waco
Two Ohio businessmen and a pair of barnstormers built the biplane that filled America’s civil register between the wars, then designed the glider that carried troops into Sicily, Normandy and Arnhem.
Waco: the company and the aircraft that made its name
Barnstormers in Ohio
In 1919 two Ohio businessmen, Clayton Brukner and Sam Junkin, fell in with a pair of barnstorming pilots, Buck Weaver and Charley Meyers. Their first design, a floatplane, was a failure. Undeterred, they founded the Weaver Aircraft Company in 1920. Weaver left in 1923, the firm moved to Troy, Ohio, as the Advance Aircraft Company, and in 1929 it took the name its aircraft already carried. Purists still insist it is pronounced wah-co, to rhyme with taco, and nothing to do with the town in Texas.
More Wacos than anything else
Between the wars Waco was everywhere. The Waco 10 of 1927 was its best seller, with 1,623 built by 1933, and more Wacos were on the US civil register than aircraft of any other make. Open-cockpit biplanes, taperwing aerobatic mounts, mailplanes for Northwest Airways and, from 1930, comfortable cabin biplanes made the name popular with business flyers, explorers and the mail services. Small batches of armed biplanes went to Latin American air arms in Uruguay, Cuba and Nicaragua.
Gliders for D-Day
War turned Waco into a glider house. Its CG-4A, which began flight tests in May 1942, could carry 13 troops or a Jeep through its hinged nose; more than 13,900 were delivered by 16 contractors, Ford alone building 4,190. They went into battle over Sicily in July 1943 and on to Normandy and Market Garden. Waco also built over 600 UPF-7 trainers. Peace brought no private-flying boom, and the company closed in 1947. A separate firm, WACO Classic Aircraft, built new YMF biplanes from 1986 until it abruptly shut its Battle Creek factory in April 2026.
Waco in numbers
The company
- In short
- Founded 1920
- Founded in Lorain and Medina, Ohio, as the Weaver Aircraft Company
- Moved to Troy, Ohio, in 1923 as the Advance Aircraft Company
- Renamed Waco Aircraft Company in 1929
- Ceased operations in 1947
Production
- Best known for
- Waco 10 and CG-4A
- Waco 10: 1,623 built, 1927–1933
- CG-4A glider: more than 13,900 delivered by 16 contractors
- Over 600 UPF-7 trainers for civilian pilot training
- 42 impressed civil Wacos served with the USAAF as C-72s
Today
- Now
- Defunct
- Large surviving fleet; biggest collection at the Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum near St Louis
- Unrelated WACO Classic Aircraft built YMF replicas from 1986 and closed in April 2026
The numbers
- Waco 10 built
- 1,6231927–1933
- CG-4A gliders delivered
- more than 13,900 (all contractors)
- UPF-7 trainers built
- over 600
- Civil Wacos impressed by the USAAF
- 42 of sixteen types
Every notable Waco aircraft
| Aircraft | Role | First flight | Built | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waco 9 | Three-seat biplane | 270 | Retired | First mass-produced Waco, steel-tube fuselage | |
| Waco 10 (GXE) | Three-seat biplane | 1,623 | Retired | Most-produced Waco model | |
| Waco ASO | Sport biplane | 95 | Retired | Wright J-5 powered; known as the Whirlwind Waco | |
| Waco RNF | Two-seat sport biplane | 177 | Retired | ||
| Waco UBF / XJW-1 | Sport biplane, airship trainer | around 11 | Retired | Two went to the US Navy with skyhooks for the airship Macon | |
| Waco Custom Cabin series | Cabin biplane | Retired | Many impressed into USAAF service as C-72s | ||
| Waco UPF-7 | Primary trainer biplane | over 600 | Retired | Civilian Pilot Training Program | |
| Waco CG-4A | Assault glider | 1942 | 13,903 (16 makers) | Retired | 13 troops or a Jeep; Sicily, Normandy, Market Garden |
Waco aircraft in the world’s air forces
2 air forces in the Order of Battle fly or flew Waco types. 0 of them still have one in service.
| Air force | In service | Formerly flown |
|---|---|---|
| Brazilian Air Force | Waco CSO and Potez 25 TOE (Army and Navy aviation) | |
| Salvadoran Air Force | Early types: TNCA Serie A, Hanriot H.320, Breguet 14, Waco, Curtiss-Wright CW-14 Osprey, Caproni A.P.1, Fairchild M-62, Vultee BT-13, Beech AT-11 |
Where Waco built, who led it, what it achieved
Factories
- Troy works · Troy, Ohio — Company home from 1923
People
- Clayton J. Brukner · co-founder
- Elwood “Sam” Junkin · co-founder
- George “Buck” Weaver · barnstormer, co-founder — Left in 1923
Records and firsts
- More Wacos on the US civil register between the wars than aircraft of any other manufacturer
- CG-4A: the most widely used American troop glider of the Second World War
Waco, year by year
Brukner and Junkin meet barnstormers Weaver and Meyers
Weaver Aircraft Company founded in Ohio
Weaver leaves; firm moves to Troy as Advance Aircraft Company
Waco 10 enters production
Renamed Waco Aircraft Company
CG-4A glider begins flight testing
CG-4As go into action in the invasion of Sicily
CG-4As land troops in Normandy
Waco ceases operations
WACO Classic Aircraft begins building new YMF biplanes
WACO Classic Aircraft announces closure of its Battle Creek factory
Everything people ask about Waco
How do you pronounce Waco?
What was Waco’s most famous aircraft?
When did Waco stop building aircraft?
Are new Waco biplanes still built?
Around Waco
Every fact, checked
Verified 2026-10-03.