Airplane Stories

Stories about people, inventions, challenges, accomplishments, aviators, love, daring, fun, passion ... and more!

Here at WAAAM, we think of our airplanes as more than relics from the past. We think of them as living reminders of the engineers who designed them, the aviators who flew them, and the purpose that they once served.

Each airplane tells a unique story. And because all of our planes still fly, the stories never end. New chapters are being written each and every day.

To give you a sense for what we mean, here are just a few of the stories that our airplanes tell ...

Our 1938 Waco GXE-10 flying over the Columbia River Gorge. Imagine the thrill of flying in this plane!

Women in Aviation

A Few Stories about Women in Aviation

“You know when you’re boarding an airplane and you see a female pilot that you’re in good hands,” says WAAAM’s managing director, Judy Newman.

“Unfortunately,” says Judy, “female pilots never got the recognition they deserved, either in peace time or during the various wars that have been fought.” Judy wants to do her part in correcting that wrong.

Click to continue: Women in Aviation

1929 Heath Super Parasol & 1933 Heath Center Wing

These two airplanes, on loan from Tim Lunceford of Albany, OR, are designs from the Heath Airplane Company of Chicago, Illinois. The Heath Super Parasol was originally offered in the late 1920s as a factory-built fly-away for $975 or with no engine for $690, in kit form (also less engine) for $199 or for $5 you could get a set of blueprints and gather your own materials. The kit quality and the excellent flight characteristics of the Heath airplanes earned Heath a good reputation at home and overseas. WAAAM's Super Parasol is powered by an inline four-cylinder engine based on the Henderson motorcycle engine. The Heath Center Wing is a racer from the early 1930s and it won many races. A Heath Center Wing was exhibited at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. Our Center Wing has a 40 HP Continental engine.

And yes, that's the same Heath Company that later relocated to Benton Harbor, Michigan and moved into electronic kits.

1929 Arrow Sport Pursuit

Getting Her from Nebraska
to Hood River

It must have been March or early April, when Terry Brandt called me and said...... "We've hmmm umm acquired an airplane, in Nebraska. Maybe you could run over there and take a look at it. It'll need an annual as it hasn't flown for a few years."

So I'm thinking, Nebraska is just the next state over, so I'll check this old girl out and have a little fun flying her back to Oregon. Of course, if you've ever driven across Nebraska, you know it's a little wide and mind numbing. But, I was interested enough in getting the aircraft back here, so I was willing to give it a shot.

Click to continue: The Arrow Sport comes to Hood River

The Curtiss JN-4D "Jenny"

Curtiss Jenny with Mt. Hood in the background

WAAAM's Crown Jewel

WAAAM Founder Terry Brandt had been searching for a Jenny for many years without success before Ben Davidson (now WAAAM Chief Pilot) found this one online. It had been dismantled in the nineteen twenties and stored in a barn in Ohio since then.

Designed by Glenn Curtiss and B. Douglas Thomas, the Curtiss JN-4D “Jenny” was the trainer of choice in both England and the US during World War I. Over 9,000 were built by seven companies and it’s estimated that 95% of American and British WWI pilots received training in the Jenny.

Click to continue: The Curtiss Jenny Story: WAAAM's Crown Jewel

Some of Our Stories

Airplane Stories

Stories about people, inventions, challenges, accomplishments, aviators, love, daring, fun, passion ... and more!