OTHER RESOURCES

Very readable volumes about the Grand Central Air Terminal are these books:

Underwood, John. 1984. Madcaps, Millionaires and 'Mose'. Heritage Press, Glendale, CA. 144pp.

And...

Underwood, John. 2007. Grand Central Air Terminal. Arcadia Publishing. Charleston, SC. 127pp.

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A very readable, and brief, online history of the Grand Central Air Terminal by Ron DIckson is at the link.

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President (as of the upload date of this page) Andy Heins of the National Waco Club sent the images at right. Andy  runs the day to day business of the Club, and we should all thank him for the effort he expended to help us understand better the Waco aircraft that landed at the Grand Central Air Terminal way back when.

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I'm looking for information and photographs of this airplane to include on this page. If you have some you'd like to share, please click this FORM to contact me.

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WACO NC719E

This airplane is a model ATO, manufactured in 1929. It wears S/N A-97. It is still registered with the FAA (see below).

NC719E landed and is recorded in the Grand Central Air Terminal (GCAT) Register four times. The dates were May 7, 1931 at 2:32PM, June 28, 1931 at 1:33PM, July 4, 1931 at 2:25PM and July 9, 1931 at 5:53PM. At no time did the tower Operator identify the pilot or occasional passengers.

Waco ATO NC719E (Source: Heins)
Waco ATO NC719E (Source: Heins)

Below, also courtesy of Mr. Heins, is the original, 2-page Waco Sales sheets for the airplane dated May 28, 1929. It tells us the about the engine that was installed, the brands of the equipment installed, and the color scheme as it left the factory. It is not clear if the photo above is painted vermilion and silver (there is no detail of striping on the sales sheet).

Original Waco Sales Sheet, NC719E (Source: Heins)
Original Waco Sales Sheet, NC719E (Source: Heins)

The second page of the sales sheet was for the owner to complete as transfers of title were made, or service was performed. This particular one received no follow on annotation.

Original Waco Sales Sheet, NC719E (Source: Heins)
Original Waco Sales Sheet, NC719E (Source: Heins)

The good news about this airplane is that it still exists. According to the FAA database of registered aircraft online, it is owned by a company in Cincinnati, OH. From that description, it is not clear if it is airworthy and flying. However, I am assured by Mr. Heins that it is, and he provides the image below of how NC719E looks as of the upload date of this page.

Waco NC719E, Contemporary Photo (Source: Heins)

Even with modern amenities like a tail wheel and upgraded landing gear, this airplane still looks very much as it did in 1929. Mr Heins states about the airplane, "This airplane NC719E was also owned by famous aerobatic pilot Bettie Lund. She purchased this airplane around 1934 and used it for her airshow routine after her original Taperwing was damaged in an accident. The airplane has basically remained a flyer it's entire life. It was also owned by Arthur 'Fatso' DeBolt of the Linco Flying Aces. Gordon Bourland of Texas owned the airplane from about 1970-1992.  It was then purchased by John Cournoyer of Maryland Heights, Missouri and John Halterman of St. Louis. Sold to Alan Hoeweiler in 1994, it was then restored by John Halterman and flew again in 1996. It has been a resident at Moraine Airpark in Dayton, Ohio since that time and is flown by Mike Brown, partner of Alan."

NC719E is a terrific example of the robustness of some Golden Age designs. It is testimony to the respect and care that certain individuals give these airplanes over the years. You are seeing a relatively rare example of a Register airplane that still flies. Other examples are Stearman NC667K and New Standard NC9194 (video at the link). There are others that exist as whole aircraft, but are museum specimens, not flying. For example Navy Curtiss Hawk A-6969 (video at the link) and Lockheed Vegas NC7952 and NC898E (video at the link).

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THIS PAGE UPLOADED: 04/18/16 REVISED: