25 June 2019
WACO Aircraft Company is to manufacture no fewer than four different types of aircraft: WACO YMF-5 biplane, Great Lakes 2T-1A-2 aerobatic biplane, another as-yet unspecified aerobatic aircraft and, most surprisingly, the Junkers F 13.
WACO was acquired last November by Dimor Group of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Dimor is a subsidiary of Dimor Aero of Cologne, Germany which is behind the building and certification of the Junkers F 13 replica – pictured above at AeroExpo earlier this month.
An 80,000 sqft, $18 million expansion is underway for WACO at W.K. Kellogg Airport (KBTL) and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2020, according to company officials.
WACO president Peter Bowers, who retained his position after his company was sold, said that the new facility will include offices, a reception area for pilots and visitors, an area open to the public, space for a maintenance department, and a restaurant on the second floor capable of seating 100 people, according to a report from Second Wave of Southwest Michigan.
Bowers said there will also be 18,000 square feet of manufacturing space and two hangars for transient aircraft. He forecasts that WACO will continue to build 8-10 biplanes a year, and as many as 40 aerobatic aircraft – mainly for flight schools – per year in Battle Creek, along with the Junkers F 13.
“Business is good right now because the economy is strong,” he told Second Wave. He says he plans to add as many as 20 employees in the next year, bringing the total payroll to about 60.
