Waco PT-14

Waco PT-14
Restored UPF-7, built in 1942
Type:	Beginner training aircraft
Design country:	United States
Manufacturer:	Waco Aircraft Company , Lorain, Ohio
First flight:	1939
Number of pieces:	15th

The Waco PT-14 was a variant of the Waco F from the US manufacturer Waco Aircraft Company , which the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) wanted to use as a beginner's training aircraft . However, because of the inadequate load capacity for the tough military school operation and the no longer contemporary design as a double-decker with open seats, only 15 copies were actually used for this purpose.

history

With the RNF, the first version of the Waco F series appeared in April 1930, after which the production of a large number of variants with different engines for the civilian market followed. The fuselage was constructed as a conventional fabric-covered, welded tubular steel framework. The positively staggered wooden wings were braced with wire ropes. Constant improvements to the original design between 1935 and 1937 led to the versions UPF (220-PS-Continental-R-680), YPF (225-PS-Jacobs-R-755) and ZPF (285-PS-Jacobs-R-830) .

At a time when biplanes with an open cockpit had largely disappeared from the civilian market, in 1939 the Air Corps Materiel Division procured a UPF-7 under the designation XPT-14 for aptitude tests as a beginner training aircraft. The suffix -7 stood for the 1937 model year. In 1940, Waco received an order for the delivery of a further 13 machines as the YPT-14 . A further production of military variants did not take place afterwards, but between 1940 and 1942 Waco received orders to build around 600 UPF-7s for the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP). The USAAC also returned 11 of the 13 YPT-14s to the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) for use in the CPTP. A civilian UPF-7, requisitioned in 1942, was listed by the USAAC as the PT-14A .

Incidents

There was only one accident with this machine during the approach to Tuskegee Airport on June 27, 1941, which resulted in no fatalities.

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data
crew	2
length	7.17 m
span	9.15 m
Wing area	22.7 m 2
Empty mass	849 kg
Takeoff mass	1202 kg
drive	1 × seven-cylinder - radial engine Continental R-670 -3 with a power of 220 hp (162 kW)
Top speed	205 km / h
Cruising speed	182 km / h at sea level
Service ceiling	4500 m
Range	640 km
Armament	no

literature

• ER Johnson: American Military Training Aircraft , McFarland and Co., 2015, ISBN 978-0-7864-7094-5 , pp. 98-99.
• Joseph P. Juptner: US Civil Aircraft Series Volume 7 , Aero Publishers, 1978, reprinted in 1994 by TAB Books, no ISBN, pp. 148-152.
• Susan Harris: Encyclopedia of Aircraft Technology, Models, Data , World View, Augsburg 1994, ISBN 3-89350-055-3 , p. 255.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Juptner, Vol. 7, p. 149
2. ↑ Joseph P. Juptner: US Civil Aircraft Series Volume 4 , Aero Publishers, 1967, reprinted in 1994 by TAB Books, pp. 45 ff.
3. ↑ Juptner, Vol. 7, p. 151
4. ↑ Accident report Waco PT-14 Registration: 40-15 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on December 27, 2018