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This airplane is a model RNF, S/N 3278, manufactured June 7, 1930 at Troy, OH. It is still
registered with the FAA. It is being restored, and you can see a video at the link by scrolling down the menu there and clicking on Waco_NC863V.
NC863V is a three-place airplane. It left the factory equipped with a Warner-Scarab engine of 110HP, a Heywood starter and a Hot Shot battery. See the link for information about the Waco factory. Interestingly, NC863V sold originally to Register pilot and Tucson resident Charlie Mayse. The first registration was to Mayse Air Service, Tucson, AZ. Mayse was a Waco distributor.
Quickly, on July 3, 1930, Mayse sold the airplane to George Weinbrenner who gave his address as El Paso, TX. On the registration form, however, Weinbrenner's address was recorded as Bredouw-Hilliard Aeromotive Corporation, Municipal Airport, Kansas City, MO.
Below, a photograph of NC863V near an underground fuel bowser (the metal door in the ground in front of the airplane). This photo, shot through a wire fence, is shared with us by site visitor J.W. Tretter. The photo was taken by her father. Note the absence of the Townend ring around the engine cylinders. Compare that to the photos farther below.
Waco NC863V, Date & Location Unknown-Possibily Indianapolis, IN (Source: Tretter)
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Interestingly, the airplane in the background is 10176, an Aeronca C-2, S/N 52. Does anyone KNOW about this Aeronca? It may give us a clue to the date of this photograph?
NC863V landed at Tucson once, Monday, February 2, 1931 flown by George Weinbrenner.
He carried one unidentified passenger. Based in El Paso,
TX they were northwestbound from El Paso to Phoenix, AZ.
Weinbrenner kept the airplane for about four years, selling it for $1,400 to the Glober-Chambers Air Service, San Angelo, TX on July 24, 1934. The sale was brokered by yet another Register pilot Tex LaGrone, who was the Waco distributor at Kansas City.
Below, an image shared by Mr. Heins (cited, right sidebar). The person squatting at left appears to have on a cloth helmet and may be the pilot.
Waco NC863V, Ca. 1934-38 (Source: Heins)
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The lettering on the fuselage says,
GLOBER-CHAMBERS
AIR SERVICE
Waco Distributors
Municipal Airport - San Angelo, Texas |
Below, a photograph
taken around 1935 when the airplane was based in San Angelo,
Texas. The person in the image is unknown. It was repainted sometime between the earlier and later photographs.
Waco NC863V, 1935 (Source: Heins)
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According to a bill of sale in the FAA record, Glober sold 863V December 15, 1938 to the Aero-Pacific Corp., Burbank, CA. The bill of sale reads that Glober sold for $100 "all of the remains of one Waco RNF." It is stated further in the record that 863V was "badly damaged in an accident at Rock Springs, Texas, on November 18, 1933." There was mention in the record that all wing spars and many ribs were replaced, as well as longerons. This extent of this damage categorized it as "remains" rather than a whole airplane in the bill of sale.
Update of 10/15/11 This airplane is being restored by Susan Theodorelos near Dayton, OH. Below, from my visit with her and her airplane, is the finished vertical stabilizer and rudder as they appeared on August 13, 2011.
Vertical Stabilizer & Rudder, NC863V, August 13, 2011 (Source: Webmaster)
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Owner Theodorelos was kind enough to discuss the high points of the airplane as I recorded her comments on video. You can see the video at the link by scrolling down the menu there and clicking on Waco_NC863V.
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UPLOADED: 10/04/07 REVISED: 06/15/10, 11/22/10, 10/15/11
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