nothing illegal about it, and if on the runway-ish there is not even an operational difference. the one and only time I landed my champ at a Class-B airport, there was a gusty easterly wind and my landing roll looked like this. Minimum crosswind followed by minimum taxi length.

I would say “it depends”. The Stearman is spartan, rowdy and bare. Spending more than two or three hours in a Stearman would make for a long day. The Waco is more comfortable, well mannered and beautifully balanced. It is also faster and has a better fit and finish as well as beautiful to look at. If you want to do aerobatics, the Waco with four ailerons (instead of two in a stock Stearman) does loops, cuban eights and barrel rolls like it’s on rails. Nonetheless, I would say they are both a hoot to fly. Pick your poison.

Tony, which ones are you bringing to OSH this year? And when are you planning on arriving?

I'm planning on bringing the unless I get the engine hung on the YKS 6 in time to fly it out from California. That is looking more hopeful...

I might even be able to bring both if I can talk my friend into flying one of them for me like last year.

I'm coming in on Thursday before the Monday start. Friday last year was a sh!t show.

I have time in both a YPF-7 and a Stearman. I would take the Waco any day over the Stearman.

If you want more money on hand to invest other places (or in other airplanes), buy a Stearman.

If you want an abundance of airframes, gurus, parts support, clubs and meeting groups, formation societies, big national fly-ins etc, buy a Stearman.

If you want to learn serious TW flying because you are headed up into bigger and heavier iron, buy a Stearman.

If you want to really enjoy tailwheel and biplane flying, draw a crowd on every ramp, and feel your heart go pitter patter when you walk away from it after landing and look back...buy a UPF-7 (can't speak for the other ones).

It is just the sweetest flying airplane, no question about it. The Stearman is more like a drill instructor...a necessary taskmaster prepping you for something more challenging down the line.

My $.02.

Thanks for the comparisons, fellas.

For the record, I already own a Stearman, it’s just that I’ve never flown any of the Wacos.

My grail airplane is the C-3B, preferably with the J-5. I wasn’t in a position to buy the Varney airplane a few years ago, to my eternal regret.

This may be somewhat inaccurate. Stearman biplanes can be purchased for prices from under 100k to over 200k. Waco biplanes are the same. I'd say, in general, Stearman cost less but that not nearly always the case. I have less in my Lindy winning F3 than most people have in really nice Stearman biplanes and even after extensive work on my F2 which won awards at SNF and OSH (which I point out to say that even really nice airplanes don't have to cost a fortune) I have less in it than some do in similar time Stearmans. You can't pay more than $80k for a nice Waco RNF (unless you really are an idiot) and usually they are less but you can hardly find a flier Stearman for that.

Prices for UPF 7's have a similar spread to them as Stearman. Yes, you can pay a half million dollars to Rare Aircraft for a newly restored example, and if you really want to fly an open cockpit biplane in IFR conditions you can dump a couple hundred thousand more in a new Waco Classic. But it isn't necessary. Lots of nice UPF's can be found under $200k. The UPF 7 is the most commonly sold antique Waco simply because they made more of them (over 600 compared to a few dozen of other models). And if you want an F5 version you are going to need to buy a Classic most likely. My old Classic is for sale currently for $155k but I wouldn't pay that for it and serial number 10 - which is built to the exact specs of the antiques - and is a nice airplane, is for sale for $120k (if you have interest PM and I'll put you in touch).

Because there are fewer Waco antiques you do need to look harder than for a Stearman. But they are out there and there is really good support for them too (not nearly as good as Stearman from a parts perspective though I'll give credit for that).

It feels a bit sacrilegious, but if I had the cash to buy one I think I'd prefer the F5. It seems to have the lines and curves of the F2 with ergonomics big enough for me to climb into.

Several years ago there was a guy at Kline Kill who had his F2 out on display. (Dan... something. Former NYC radio personality.) It was gorgeous, and he was kind enough to let my kid get a picture in it. He invited me to try it on for size and I was up on the wing, trying to figure out how I was going to do that. I had a flashback of getting stuck in the back hole of an OTW and decided I'd better not. That rear cockpit opening looked to be about the same size.

I want to like the actual antiques more than the modern ones, but they made me too stout for those things.

I've got a video of my friend Rob getting out of the front hole of the F2. It's pretty funny. He's 6' 8" and a big guy. Just bought an F7 after flying mine. That's the Waco for a bigger person. I'm 6 feet and 190 lbs and I fit in all of them just fine (fit fine when I was forty pounds heavier for that matter).

The Waco Classic has made the rear hole bigger in diameter and a bit longer over the years. They have a changes chart that shows how they modified the airframe over the years by year and serial number in the event you ever want to look.

With that said every everplane cockpit I've ever flown in has a graceful way and lots of awkward ways to get in and out. I've been in lots of biplane cockpits much smaller than a Waco (Great Lakes and Parrakeet come to mind). They seem small, uncomfortable, etc. and then you get used to them. I know guys much bigger than me that fly them. I sat in a friend's Fleet Model One recently and it felt really small. But I knew it wouldn't in a couple of flights. You get used to it - though it is worth remembering they were originally designed for guys who are half a foot shorter and a hundred pounds lighter than a lot of us.

The other thing about these older planes that seems uncomfortable until you get used to it is the upright seating position. Because of seat location compared to the rudder pedals your legs are much more at right angles than we're used to. In my Waco Classic that seemed very uncomfortable to me. But I got used to it. Now, sitting in much tighter quarters seems perfectly fine.

Nothing wrong at all with a Classic Waco. They're well built, beautiful airplanes. But they are much heavier which affects performance, they can't do a full stall landing because of changes to landing gear geometry and they have a lot of useless, expensive "stuff" that is eye candy but doesn't improve (opposite in fact in my opinion) performance, handling or comfort. They have some of the prettiest, and ugliest, paint schemes ever put on a biplane depending on your point of view. I loved mine when I had it, wouldn't object to having another one (serial number below about 35 please) and don't think its sacrilegious to prefer them.

By the way the hole diameter is smaller on the F2 than the F3,F5 or F7. But once you're in there is a lot (about the same as the F5) room. My pedals actually feel more comfortable than in the F3. One huge advantage, especially in cooler weather, is less wind penetration. Below 60 the F7 is freezing cold and at 45 the F2 is just fine.

Nice day flying the Stearman. Fresh chutes and a little bit of rust knocked off the acro.

Early summer is such an awesome time to fly in an open cockpit biplane! Mornings are cool and smooth, evenings the same and being out when the popcorn starts to go off can be magical. This morning I flew west to El Reno which has the biggest grass strip anywhere that I know of (200x4,000). You can take off and land a couple times and never leave the airport. They've had their concrete runway closed for repairs for a month or longer with more to go and I've been going over there to pretend their grass runway belongs to me. Because it does! I've had the airport to myself.

After a few three points on RWY 18 I decided to taxi in and see if the bathroom was open. As I got to the deserted ramp a Cub called in from 4 miles out and said he was going to land RWY 36. The ASOS is turned off (I guess because the main runway is closed) so I called back and told him 18 was in use as I double checked the wind sock. After visiting the facilities I climbed back in and noted the windsock pointing south at 10 knots. That was a quick wind change!

I took off RWY 36 circled to land and the darned sock had changed directions again. After landing RWY 18 I headed home where they were advertising 3 knots from 010 landing 17L. Hmm. At KPWA they have to follow KOKC flow. The ATIS was just out so they must have a south wind while Wiley is still north. This is why TAF's are only good for 5 NM right?

Lots of traffic coming in from the east from a BBQ fly in, I got bumped to the small runway 17R - I knew they wouldn't let me land wrong direction so I decided to give it a try. Only 3 knots right? I came over the numbers too fast and made a wheel landing but wasn't slowing down as I should and it felt squirrelly so I went around. I thought I'd try one more time and then go somewhere else and take a nap. Wind check on crosswind was calm. Checked again on downwind and now the wind is 110 degrees at 4. Made a piece of cake landing. As I turned off the runway I thought to myself how seldom I'm grateful for a cross wind.

After putting the plane back in the hangar I hung around my deserted airport for a few more hours messing around. Our runways are open so the pilots of the several hundred airplanes trapped behind closed hangar doors have no excuse. One of the prettiest flying days all year, no holiday to keep anyone at home and the place is deserted. Pretty typical unfortunately. And pretty sad. But none of that can dampen the glow I feel from a morning with the wind and sun on my face, the smells of newly cut alfalfa mixed with burned Marvel Mystery oil in my nostrils and the thrill of making a blind landings - every one of them different.

Great post, Tony.

I remember reading Richard Bach's Nothing By Chance where his riders say something like:

"This barnstorming is great, I wish I could do this!"

Dick would invite them along on the spot, and they'd demur.

This is going to be the best summer of flying ever for me. I'm going to perfect my Stearman acro. I'm getting my instructor certificates reinstated. I spent the last three years teaching at the airline as a check pilot and had forgotten just how much I truly love flight instruction and how It's one of the few things I'm pretty good at. When I've hung up my helmet and scarf, the only meaningful part of my flying career that will live on when I'm gone is the students I've taught and the crews I've evaluated.

I'm also getting a glider add-on. I'm flying the UPRT course at the NTPS in the Macchi Impala & Sabreliner.

And if all goes well I'm starting a biplane tour company to set some of my money on fire in the most fun way possible.

I'll post the details as I go.

Thanks for the inspiration, Tony!

This post really belongs to a tail wheel thread, and particularly a antique tail wheel thread, but we haven't got one. But paraphrasing the Wizard of Oz "we have got a biplane thread (which is almost of necessity about antiques to some degree, round motors, etc.).

Today it was raining cats and dogs. And a lot of water. I gave up trying for drive in chicken and just had a protein bar in the hangar. My plan was to see if the Fairchild was hydro locked. Not with water, despite the weather, but oil. It seems like if I don't fly it for a couple of weeks the head pressure overwhelms the valve between the oil tank and engine and there you are. I have a shut off valve to install but my first installer has given up. it's been six weeks since the Fairchild flew and so I figured I was in for a lengthy session of spark plug removal followed by cleaning oil from the planes exterior after a messy start.

But! No lock. A bit stiff perhaps but the world and the prop turns! I'll be hornswoggled...But, I knew there was still a mess coming. I've seen this movie before. By now the precipitation had subsided but its continued threat meant no possibility of anyone from the flying club nex door showing up to demand I get out of the way on the ramp. So, I pulled the UPF 7 out and put the Fairchild behind. I put another gallon of oil in the tank to replace what had dripped out, and what might be in the exhaust and case. After some coaxing and encouragement, followed by a couple of unprintable expressions the old remnant from a Sherman tank coughed, sputtered and finally roared to life belching copious amounts of smoke from the oil collected in the exhaust.

Immediately the wind screen became well lubricated with oil and I shut down just to make sure I wasn't on fire. I wasn't but the old engine rewarded my caution with even more trouble starting the second time. I ran it until I got some movement in the laggardly oil temp needle and shut down. Am I good for a couple more weeks or not?

It depends. It seems its all luck and to some degree dependent on how much time I have for oil wiping on every exposed surface. As I thought about that I noticed the flags at the FBO had assumed the posture of a conservative in Portland, and the sun seemed to be trying to make an appearance. Maybe I can go fly?

Now would be a good time to remind that its never a good idea to start and "run up" an airplane engine without flying it and bringing it up to temperature. Many well meaning pilots, who perhaps are afraid or unable to fly for some reason think that's helpful to the engine. It's not. It just fills it with moisture which is not a good thing. As I thought about that, guiltily, since I'd just done that I decided to go fly. I cleaned the windscreen, closed the door and tested my luck starting the motor for a third time.

After taxiing I took off. April 21st was the last time I had flown the F24, filling my log book with Waco biplanes and Piaggio entries in the intervening period. But its such a simple plane, its not hard to remember what to do - keep hand on throttle, feed in right rudder as you relax the stick, let it levitate when ready and off you go!

What a delightful plane to fly! The T&B doesn't work and the ASI, driven by a venturi is only an approximation of relative speed information. So, you fly by the seat of your pants mostly. Climbing turns followed by a wingover and nothing fell off. I decided to try my luck at some landings. It's an easy plane to land. Wide gear, flaps that give no lift but do make you feel like you're doing something and it just squeaks on in three point attitude with practically no forward motion. It will bite you though - as it reminded me when I got a little to aggressive with the ailerons once when the wind died. Just me and a helicopter in the pattern I wend around and around. Each time the wind shifted a bit more to the east to just up the challenge a tad.

Eventually, I headed back home where the pilot mill had the pattern full. Before I got there I remembered how pleasant it is to put the thing on autopilot with feet on the floor and hands off the stick. I did that, fished my phone out of the glove box and took some photos. Oops! There is no autopilot! But, the darned thing was right where I left it (as I knew it would be). As I relaxed in my easy chair, my feet out in front of me propped up on the pedals and the panel far, far away I thought of Eric. Even big guys find this old bird comfy!

When I called the tower they wanted me to go north a long time to give the kiddos time to get organized (well that's not what they said but it is what they meant). Fine by me.
When they finally turned me on a five mile base leg I pulled the power back and slowed to somewhere between 70 and 100 (the ASI said 80 which I know works but I don't believe it for a second). If Eckelbar is your hero antique airplanes are just not for you.

They gave me the little runway which was fine. It's twice as wide, and twice as long, as Sonoma and no trees on both ends. No big deal. Let the kids have the easy strip! After landing I was just moseying to the turn off. That's what you do in a tail dragger if you're smart. I heard the controller tell the kid behind me to do a 360 for spacing. Good practice for him, more money for his instructor, but I'm not speeding up!

After I got the plane back in the hangar I decided not to wipe the oil off. I'm pretty anal about this sort of thing and its hard to walk away. But I'm headed out of town for two or three weeks and maybe like cosmoline it'll keep things preserved and ready to go for next time. And I'm quite sure next time is going to involve throwing lots of oil around before I can go fly anyway. It's hard to be a neat freak with round motors...

Tony, you ain't kidding about the F24. An acquaintance here has one that I sat in one time. It was even upholstered like an easy chair. Huge cockpit that seemed like a flying living room.