Waco Aircraft are one of those companies that just keeps on, keeping on. Originally founded in 1919 the company built some of the most infamous biplanes the world has ever seen before going into receivership in 1947 due to war time orders drying up.
In 1983 the company was resurrected and the new team set about building a modern Waco Biplane, an aircraft that would have full FAA approval, a state-of-the-art set of avionics and a modern 300hp radial engine all wrapped in classic, Barnstormer styling.
The “new” Waco Biplane is powered by a Jacobs 7-cylinder radial engine, the fuselage is a modern steel space-frame and all the metal fairings are hand-formed. The wings use traditional wooden spars with fabric overlay and the upper wings contain 48 gallon fuel tanks for long distance cruising.
Sadly the Waco YMF-5D is a little out of reach for most people, the base price of $423,250 means that it’ll only ever be a toy for the wealthier petrol-heads among us. That said I can’t imagine that it’d be too difficult to steal one.
Ben Branch has had his work featured on CNN, Popular Mechanics, the official Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with millions of readers around the world and hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
If you’d like to vote for this bike to win you can click here to visit the competition page. PJ Grakauskas When PJ Grakauskas was picked to build one of the three custom Indian Bobbers competing with mechanical engineer Christian Newman and NASA engineer Alfredo Juarez, he knew he had his work cut out for him….
Lloyd Brothers Motorsports have been building some of the quickest flat trackers in the world for over 25 years, but this project wasn’t built for dirt oval competition, it was built as a father son project by company co-founder (and Dad) David Lloyd, and his son James. The Beginning The project began with a 1987 Honda…
This jet engine table was built from a decommissioned Tornado Fighter-Bomber RB199 power unit by the talented team at Custom Workshop – Marek and Grzegorz. The Turbo-Union RB199 Jet Engine The Turbo-Union RB199 engine is a three-shaft turbofan engine (with afterburner) capable of 16,186 ft lbs of thrust. It has a thrust reverser, single-crystal turbine…
The Kellison J-4R was the brainchild of USAF pilot James Kellison, a man known for his exceptional intelligence, his deep love for cars, and his fascination with lightweight composites. In the 1950s the latest and greatest composite was fiberglass, a material that was a precursor to modern composites like carbon fiber, and that offered excellent…
The Simpson Street Bandit Helmet has a shell design used since the 1970s by the iconic American company founded by Bill Simpson back in the ’50s. The impact that Simpson has had can’t be overstated, Bill invented the drag racing parachute and the Nomex fire-proof racing suit now worn by all professional racing drivers from…
The Biltwell Enamel Engine Mug is great for a number of reasons, but none more so than the fact that 100% of the proceeds from its sales go directly to the Semper Fi Fund – a charity that provides immediate financial assistance and lifetime support to post 9/11 wounded, critically ill, and injured members of…
