By Randy Malmstrom
WACO 9. My photos at Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum in Hood River, Oregon.
Editor’s notes: The WACO 9 was the first aircraft mass-produced by the Advance Aircraft Company of Troy, Ohio (founded as the Weaver Aircraft Company of Ohio, later renamed the Waco Aircraft Company). Its construction consisted of a tubular steel fuselage framework covered in fabric and a wooden wing structure also covered in fabric. The WACO 9 has a capacity to carry three occupants (two passengers in the forward open cockpit and a single pilot in the rear open cockpit). WACO 9s were fitted with several types of engines, but the most common was the Curtiss OX-5 90 hp V8 engine, then plentiful as thousands of these engines had been built during World War I to power Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” military trainers.
First flown in 1925, two examples of this aircraft were demonstrated at the Ford Reliability Air Tours of 1925 and 1926, which were intended to promote commercial interest in aviation. The WACO 9 was also the first aircraft to be fitted with aluminium pontoon floats built by the EDO Corporation, which would become the largest producer of pontoon floats for aircraft during WWII. In all, some 270 WACO 9s were built, and their design would lead directly into the development of other WACO aircraft, most notably the WACO 10, which featured several improvements to the design of the WACO 9. Only around 10 or so WACO 9s are known to exist across the United States, including the one kept in airworthy condition by the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum. This aircraft, construction number 218, was flown by Pacific Air Transport as an Air Mail Service Plane and later registered on the U.S. civil registry as NC139.
By April 29, 1960, the aircraft was certified as N139E. The aircraft later entered the collection of Korean War ace Dolph Overton, founder of the Wings and Wheels Museum, which operated first in Santee, South Carolina, then in Orlando, Florida before closing down in 1981. When the museum’s collection was auctioned off, WAC 9 N139E was acquired by Norton Aero Ltd of Athol, Idaho, which was founded by aircraft collector Gary A. Norton, owner of the now-closed Henley Aerodrome. By December 2001, the WACO 9 was acquired by John S. Morozowsky, Zanesville, Ohio.
In the summer of 2015, the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum of Hood River, Oregon acquired N139E and restored it to flying condition. Today, when it is not flown in museum events, it can be viewed in the museum’s display hangar.
About the author 
Randy Malmstrom grew up in a family steeped in aviation culture. His father, Bob, was still a cadet in training with the USAAF at the end of WWII, but did serve in Germany during the U.S. occupation in the immediate post-war period, where he had the opportunity to fly in a wide variety of types that flew in WWII. After returning to the States, Bob became a multi-engine aircraft sales manager and, as such, flew a wide variety of aircraft; Randy frequently accompanied him on these flights. Furthermore, Randy’s cousin, Einar Axel Malmstrom, flew P-47 Thunderbolts with the 356th FG from RAF Martlesham Heath. He was commanding this unit at the time he was shot down over France on April 24th, 1944, and spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war. Following his repatriation at war’s end, Einar continued his military service, attaining the rank of Colonel. He was serving as Deputy Wing Commander of the 407th Strategic Fighter Wing at Great Falls AFB, MT at the time of his death in a T-33 training accident on August 21, 1954. The base was renamed in his honour in October 1955 and continues to serve in the present USAF as home to the 341st Missile Wing. Randy’s innate interest in history in general, and aviation history in particular, plus his educational background and passion for WWII warbirds, led him down his current path of capturing detailed aircraft walk-around photos and in-depth airframe histories, recording a precise description of a particular aircraft in all aspects.
