Photo ID: 1011469
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Model: Waco YKC, YKC-S |
Registration: N14066 |
| Year: 1934 |
Serial Number: 3991 |
| Engine(s): Jacobs R755-A2, 300-HP, 7-cylinder radial |
Owner: Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum
Anchorage, AK |
Location: Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum
Anchorage, AK |
Photographer: Ken Stoltzfus |
| Date: July 2004 |
Present Registration: Same |
Present Owner (FAA info): Same |
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Notes: 11/12/04 - I really dislike taking photos in a setting like this but if I'm going to get a Waco seaplane, it will probably be in a museum. So here goes.
This is a nicely restored, 1934 Waco YKC on floats. The Waco Aircraft Company, of Troy, Ohio, had a very specific way of designating the model of a given Waco airplane. It is simple if you understand it and confusing if you don't. In the YKC, the "Y" designates the engine, in this case a Jacobs L-4, 225-HP, 7-cylinder radial. The "K" indicates the wing type, which is Clark Y. The "C" indicates that it has a "Custom" fuselage whereas the YKS has a "Standard" fuselage.
This is a 1934 YKC, and it had rear quarter windows which were removed at some point. The 1935 model was called a YKC-S and did not have the rear windows. Starting in 1936 Waco put a number after the model to designate the year, i.e. YKC-6 for a 1936 model. Phew!!
In Joseph Juptner's, U.S. Civil Aircraft Vol. 6, he says, "ser. #3991 modified to YKC-S". That would be this airplane. Now this can get pretty confusing. : I think this aircraft has been called a YKC-S because it was converted to Seaplane configuration in 1939, not because it was converted to the 1935, YKC-S configuration.
It was a YKC, 4 PCLB (4-Place Cabin Land Biplane) until the (one-year) License Authorization which expired May 31, 1939. This is when the floats were installed and it was now a YKC, 4 PCSB. The next License Authorization, which expired September 29, 1939, called it a YKC 4 PCL-SB. The next one, which expired July 1, 1940, said it was a "YKC or YKC-S 4 PCL-SB". Most of the time since then it has simply been a "YKC-S" and it is presently registered that way. I highly suspect that it is a YKC when on wheels or skis, a YKC-S when on floats, and that it was never technically converted to the YKC-S, 1935 configuration. In numerous documents over the years people tried to deal with that confusion by simply calling it a "Waco Seaplane."
You would enjoy older photos of this aircraft on the museum's website. http://home.gci.net/~aahm/pages/aircraft/wacoykc.htm. Be sure to visit the museum if you are in Alaska.
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Photo ID: 1011470
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Notes: Gross weight of this YKC is #3000 on wheels and #3250 on floats. N14066 has been in Alaska since 1939. It flew over two thousand hours there, which certainly included some adventures |
| Photographer: Stoltzfus, Ken |
Photo ID: 1011471
click image to enlarge |
Notes: They don't make them like this anymore! Wow, what woodwork! The YKS (Standard) was certainly not this nicely done.
Note that the cabin entrance door is behind the pilot's seat. |
| Photographer: Stoltzfus, Ken |
Photo ID: 1011472
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Notes: Floats were first installed in May, 1939. The License Authorization of that date shows Edo 38-3430 floats and water rudders, large tail surfaces, large fuel tanks, and a throw-over control column. |
| Photographer: Stoltzfus, Ken |
Photo ID: 1011473
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Notes: The right-hand cabin door is not standard but was most likely added for seaplane operations. |
| Photographer: Stoltzfus, Ken |
Photo ID: 1011474
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Notes: N14066 was delivered with a Hartzell wood prop. By 1936 it had a Curtiss Reed 55501, fixed pitch aluminum; by 1938 a Hamilton Standard ground adjustable; and in 1944 a Hamilton Standard 2B20 constant speed was installed. I'm baffled by the looks of the blades in this photo. They look like they have a cuff toward the center.
At some point a Cessna T-50 or UC-78 Bamboo Bomber cowling and air intake system were installed. N14066 would have originally had a "bump cowl". The oil cooler there was hung on in 1988 when the 300-HP, R755-A2M1 engine was installed. |
| Photographer: Stoltzfus, Ken |
History from FAA files: From FAA records with my notes: 9/28/34, Waco YKC, s/n 3991, type 4PCLB, NC14066 to Waco Sales of N.Y. Inc., Mineola, L.I., NY; 9/28/34, Application for Commercial Aircraft License, submitted by Waco Sales of N.Y. Inc.. Aircraft had a Jacobs L-4, 225-HP engine, Hartzell wood prop, 70-gallon fuel capacity, built under Aircraft Type Certificate 533; 9/34 Airworthiness Certificate shows #3000 gross weight, #1858 empty weight. Indicates that the aircraft had an electrical system, and a "bank & turn indicator".
11/34 to Howell Van Gerbig, New York City, NY; 4/37 to Chester N. Stevens, West Hartford, CT; 5/37 to Waco Sales of New York; 11/37 to Troy Flying Service, Inc., Troy, OH; 12/37 to Alexander A. Toochkoff, Hempstead, NY (also c/o Seversky Aircraft Corp., Farmingdale, L.I., NY); 1/38, accident; 4/39 to Island Crop Dusting Company, Inc., Caribou, ME (Ernest Pretsch, George J. Brown, Matthew Springer, officers); 5/39 Edo 38-3430 floats installed by North Beach Air Service, aircraft had 680-hours TT. After this it was alternately called a type 4 PCL-SB or a 4 PCSB.
11/39 to Matt Flensburg, Dillingham, AK, now bears Model YKC-S; 7/39 "Registration Airworthiness Certificate" lists it in Land, Ski, Sea configuration; 1/40, installed Washington Aircraft Skis Model 3600, and tail ski; 8/40, note at periodic inspection, "Ship airworthy and only in fair condition."; 1/41, accident of some kind, repaired wing spar, tail, replaced prop blades; 8/42 Periodic inspection, "General condition fair. Engine topped. Owner claims Forms 308 and 309 never received; considering mail service to his residence this could easily be." :; 9/44 '337, Airplane completely rebuilt, instruments overhauled, floats overhauled. Hamilton Standard 2B20 constant speed prop installed.
4/47 to Dillingham Air Service, Dillingham, AK; 1/50 to Dennis Branham, Anchorage, AK; 3/51 to Nelson Smith, Anchorage, AK; 3/53 to Thomas P. Carroll, Rogers Park, AK; 3/55 to Harry E. Adams Jr., Seward, then Cooper Landing, AK; 10/58 to Harry E. Adams and Royce M. Adams, Cooper Landing, then Soldotna, AK; 6/55, '337, recovered fuselage, repaired/refinished wings; 6/55 Annual inspection, 2959:43 hours TT; 7/73 to Erik Barnes & Al L. Hudson, Kenai, AK; 11/74 to Dennis Branham & James R. Branham, Anchorage, AK.
9/88, '337, Aircraft stripped and recovered with Grade A, installed oil cooler, installed 300-HP Jacobs R755-A2M1 engine; 1/95 to Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum, Anchorage, AK; 2/99, '337, Aircraft restored; |
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