Great Lakes Sport Trainer

Sport Trainer
Great Lakes 2T-1A-1
Role	Trainer/Tourer
Manufacturer	Great Lakes Aircraft Company, WACO Classic Aircraft
First flight	1929
Produced	1929–1933, 1973–1982, 2011–
Unit cost	US$245,000 (2013)

The Great Lakes Sport Trainer is an American biplane trainer and aerobatic aircraft. It was originally produced in large numbers before the company building it went bankrupt in the Great Depression in 1933. Owing to its continuing popularity, however, it was eventually placed back into production in the 1970s and again in 2011 by WACO Classic Aircraft.

The Great Lakes Aircraft Corporation of Cleveland, Ohio produced a design for a small two-seat sports/trainer in early 1929, with the first prototype flying in March 1929. The resulting aircraft, designated 2-T-1 was a single bay biplane of mixed, fabric-covered construction and with a tailskid undercarriage. Power was by a single 85 hp (63 kW) Cirrus III inline engine (as the Detroit Aircraft Corporation, the holding company for Great Lakes, also held the American rights to the Cirrus, so all Sports Trainers were originally sold with Cirrus engines). Initial testing showed that the aircraft was tail heavy, so after the first four aircraft were built, the upper wing was swept back.

In January 2011, WACO Classic Aircraft announced that it will put the Great Lakes Model 2T-1A-1/2 model biplane back into production. The aircraft had not been available since 1980. The aircraft will incorporate several changes including metal wing spars. It will be offered in two models, a touring model, with a Lycoming IO-360-B1F6 engine and a higher-performance sport model, with a Lycoming AEIO-360-B1G6 engine. Work on the new production model was completed in June 2013 and the base price announced as US$245,000.

The aircraft proved very successful, with about 250 built before construction ended. It was highly maneuverable even on the relatively modest power of a Cirrus engine. A 1929 Great Lakes Model 2T1a held for many years the world record for consecutive outside loops, a total of 131, set by Jim Moss flying the Hunt Special which by the early 1930s had been highly modified and re-powered with a Warner Scarab 165 7 cylinder radial engine.

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Wikipedia