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WACO Classic Great
Lakes 2T-1A Series Aircraft Receives Type Certificate By Steve Hall |
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October 27, 2011 - WACO Classic Aircraft has received
Type Certificate by the FAA for the Great Lakes 2T-1A
series aircraft. Now, with the Type Certificate in hand,
WACO Classic is able to better work with the FAA to
return the Great Lakes to the air.
The Great Lakes by Waco Classic the new airplane is the
Great Lakes Model 2T-1A-1/2, a fully aerobatic 180
horsepower aircraft targeted at pilots and flight
schools looking for a highly capable aerobatic aircraft
with docile handling attributes. The aircraft was most
recently produced in the 1980, and is type certificated
in the aerobatic category. The design and construction techniques are very similar to the current Waco YMF-5D biplane produced by Waco Classic, however, the airplane is smaller and features simple avionics and systems. |
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Several
improvements to the earlier design are planned, including
changing from the current wood spar to a new aluminum spar,
upgrading the brakes, avionics updates and serviceability
improvements.
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-B1F6 engine.
Preliminary pricing for the Touring model fitted with a Lycoming
IO-360-B1F6 is $219,000. The higher performance Sport model will
feature the Lycoming AEIO-360-B1F6 engine, priced at $239,000.
The Lycoming O-360 is a family of four-cylinder, direct-drive,
horizontally opposed, air-cooled, piston aircraft engines.
Engines in the O-360 series produce between 145 and 225
horsepower (109 to 168 kW).
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