The Aircraft

Pilot John Corradi has thrilled many passengers
in his 1942 WACO ZPF-7.

Aircraft History

First of all, it's a WACO, pronounced wah-ko.  Way-ko is in Texas.  OK?  :)  The first owner of this 1942 Waco ZPF-7 NC32162 is unknown. The aircraft logs begin in 1944 with the note; 'Previous logbooks lost in inverted flight.  Time to date; 34 hours.'  She was owned by a flight school for a few years before a member of the Weaver family, as in Weaver Aircraft Company... WACO... bought it back.  The aircraft remained in Dr. Weaver's possession for almost fifty years, until purchased by the present owner in 1999.

The sliding canopy, or 'coupe top' was not factory original on this aircraft - only six UPF-7s were manufactured with that option.  In 1983, Dr. Weaver located several of the former Waco factory craftsmen, and had the coupe top made to factory specs, making 32162 the seventh UPF-7 with the 'factory optional' coupe top. When we restored the airplane in 2001, we replaced the original 220-horsepower Continental W-670 engine with a 275-hp Jacobs R-755 engine, which, along with a constant-speed prop, makes a real hot rod out of a UPF-7!  :)   Some more specifications, for you gear heads and Wacophiles; when the factory installed a 'Jake' engine on a UPF-7, that changed the designator to ZPF-7.  When it is done later, under an FAA 'field approval,' the designator does not change - it's still a UPF-7.  Our baby has a new motor!  In April, 2009, the Jacobs engine we installed in 2001 'timed out' at close to 1200 hours, which is the maximum recommended TBO - Time Before Overhaul.  Our new engine is from Pete Jones' outfit, 'Air Repair' in Cleveland, Mississippi. You can still buy all the pieces you'll need to build a complete Stearman biplane from Pete!  Now, how 'bout stocking up on some Waco parts, Pete?  :) The prop is a Hamilton Standard 2B20 constant speed (variable pitch).  Aircraft gross weight 2,880 lbs.  Fuel; 50 gallons and burns about 16 per hour.  Carries 4 gallons of oil. We use Phillips multi-viscosity synthetic oil, which is easy on the engine, and smells nice.   Radial engines don't actually leak oil, by the way.   They just mark their territory!  Top speed is 214 mph and stalls about 40 mph.  Touchdown about 55.  Normal cruise is about 130 mph, 21/21 (inches of manifold pressure/RPM).  The airplane now has about 1400 hours total time since new and is a joy to fly.   It has been on TV, 'Good Morning America', 'The Today Show', 'Wings' and the Discovery Channel, and was the Custom Antique Champion at Sun 'n Fun in 2002.

Wacos were in competition with the Boeing Stearman for military contracts as primary trainers in 1939-40.  The Stearman was chosen for many reasons: easier to produce, for one.  A Stearman has about 1,200 parts, a Waco over 5,000!  And the bottom wing on a Stearman sits about a foot higher off the ground, allowing a student pilot to get away with the occasional misjudgment on landing, although a Waco is a bit easier to land.  At any rate, over 12,000 Stearmans were manufactured, compared to only about 1,200 total Wacos, 600 of which were UPF-7s, the three-place open-cockpit biplane you see here.  The War Department persuaded the Waco factory to switch to glider manufacturing during the war, and Waco never resumed aircraft production.  1942 was the last year for these magnificent machines.
 
 

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