Waco E series

Waco E series
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, which differed primarily by engine installation.

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

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.

(Source : Aerofiles)

Data from Simpson p. 576

General characteristics

Performance

...
Wikipedia