AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2013 - 16

LETTERS

FLY OFF: STEARMAN VS. WACO

A TALE OF
TWO BIPLANES
An aerial drag race between a couple of classics

Lined up on the runway behind
the blue-and-yellow Stearman in
its original Army Air Corps markings, the colorful Waco biplane
seems as though it belongs in a
historical black-and-white newsreel, not today’s
reality.
VIDEO EXTRA Fly
along with us in our
The airplane that
second “Fly Off ”
taught America’s
competition.
“greatest generation” to ﬂy rumbles forward, its
tailwheel quickly rising off the
pavement, followed by its main
wheels after a total ground roll
of about 600 feet. Our “Fly-Off”
between this American aviation
legend and a thoroughly modern,
handcrafted 2011 Waco Classic
YMF–5D biplane is under way.

B Y D AV E H I R S C H M A N | P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y C H R I S R O S E

74 | AOPA PILOT May 2013

www.aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 75

“Waco drivers wear tutus. Why would I want to
spend $325,000 for glitz, bling, and eye candy,
when I can spend $100,000 for something that is
as strong as a manure spreader? Dave Hirschman
will look good in the Waco with his Gucci flight
suit, leather jacket that is held together with
all his outlandish patches, and silk scarf trailing in the wind. Careful, Dave that it does not
get wrapped around the rudder and chokes you.
I always like your point/counterpoint articles.
All in good fun.”
Vernon Childers
AOPA 5723570
Moore, Idaho

I loved the Stearman/Waco
fly off (“Fly Off: A Tale of Two
Biplanes”). I was fortunate to
fly in the Stearman and also
the Waco UPF–7. When I talk
about the Stearman to my nonpilot friends they ask me, what is
a Stearman? I tell them the best
way to describe it is “a Harley
with wings.” When I saw that
same comparison in your article, I had to laugh.
John P. Dainus
AOPA 462899
Fort Myers, Florida

The Waco and Stearman
biplanes were designed and
built for two entirely different
purposes. It’s unfair to compare them.
In March 1943 I had
completed five weeks of primary flight training as an
aviation cadet and was an
upperclassman watching the
lowerclassmen make their first
solo landings in the Stearman.
One approached the airfield too
slowly, his airplane stalled, and
he dropped at least 40 feet to a
three-point landing. The rugged
Stearman suffered no damage at
all, but the pilot had to be lifted
from the cockpit and taken to
the medics for treatment of his
16 | AOPA PILOT July 2013

jammed backbone. Could the
beautiful Waco have survived
that event?
Barrie S. Davis
AOPA 17369
Zebulon, North Carolina

Errata
While reading the spec sheet on
the Cirrus SR22T GTS (“More
of a Good Thing”), I looked at
the wing loading and power
loading figures and said to

myself, that cannot be correct. A
wing loading of only 11.4 pounds
per square feet? So I did the
math and sure enough, the two
figures were reversed. The wing
loading should be 24.8 pounds
per square feet and the power
loading should be 11.4.
Anthony Dennis Savarese
AOPA 1280977
Elmore, Alabama

Thanks, Mr. Savarese, you are
correct.—Ed.

HANGAR TALK

Fly Off

“Will this get used?” asked airshow pilot Greg
Koontz about this photo. Koontz plays the big-time
shows with an act based on maneuvers an average
general aviation pilot can easily master. He uses
a Decathlon, and upgraded to the new American
Champion Xtreme on the day this photo was taken
(“Punching and Rolling,” page 50). He has his own
aerobatic school on his ranch, seen here, and can
teach you to spin, loop, and roll. Photographer Chris
Rose and Senior Editor Al Marsh had him captive for
a full day to get any type of photograph we needed.
Rose had him fly directly above his camera while
Marsh snapped this with his iPhone. The photo Rose
took is on our table of contents pages (page 1).

The Resources guide that
accompanied “Oh, My Aching
Back” should have included
Aero-Tow (www.aero-tow.
com).
AOPA
We welcome your comments.
Editor, AOPA Pilot, 421 Aviation
Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701
or email (pilot@aopa.org). Letters may be edited for length
and style before publication.

“A restorationsweepstakes
project is
always a
challenge,”
says Editor
at Large Tom Horne. “But I get
to see the airplane go from
hag to runway model the way
no else does.” “One Pumped
Up Panel” (page 66) shows
the final results of AOPA’s 1963
Debonair Sweepstakes instrument panel upgrade. “When
we first bought the airplane it
had five obsolete—and three
non-functioning—navigation
units,” Horne says. “Today’s
Debonair Sweepstakes airplane definitely has a new feel
and spirit to it, thanks to the
work of Santa Fe Aero Services. Anyone going to EAA
Airventure will instantly see
what I mean.”

http://www.aero-tow.com http://www.aero-tow.com

AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - July 2013