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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORY AND HERITAGE COMMAND
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Photo # NH 80772:  Waco XJW-1 utility airplane parked at an airfield, circa 1934-1935

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY AIRCRAFT -- 1922-1962 DESIGNATION SYSTEM --

Waco XJW-1 utility airplanes

In 1933, with the airship Macon newly in operational service, the Navy needed a small utility airplane for the dirigible's heavier-than-air unit. The existing Consolidated N2Y-1 airplanes were no longer adequate for the purpose, so the Bureau of Aeronautics searched the civilian aircraft market for a suitable type, one with higher performance than the N2Y-1 and small enough to enter the airship's hangar. In early January 1934 a contract was issued to the Waco Aircraft Company for two modified examples of its 3-seat UBF biplane. Delivered a few months later, these two airplanes (Bureau #s 9521 and 9522) were designated XJW-1. They were fitted with skyhooks over their upper wing, allowing launching and recovery from Macon while she was in flight.

Both planes served with Macon in the utility and training role. Neither was on board the airship when she crashed off the California coast on 12 February 1935 and both were subsequently reassigned East Coast Naval Air Stations, one to Lakehurst, New Jersey, and the other to Anacostia, in Washington, D.C. Their skyhooks were removed and the two planes served for many more years as conventional landplanes. One was surveyed in March 1938, while NAS Anacostia's XJW-1 was surveyed in June 1942.

XJW-1 characteristics:

  • Dimensions: Wing Span, 29 feet 6 inches; Length, 20 feet 8 inches.
  • Weights: Gross, 2355 pounds
  • Powerplant: One 210 horsepower Continental R-670-98 single-row radial engine.
  • Performance: Maximum speed of about 128 m.p.h.

    This page features our only views of Waco XJW-1 utility airplanes.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 75575

    Waco XJW-1 utility airplane
    (Bureau # 9521)

    Parked at Naval Air Station Moffett Field, California, circa 1934-1935. This plane is assigned to USS Macon (ZRS-5).

    Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1972.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 74KB; 740 x 430 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 80772

    Waco XJW-1 utility airplane
    (Bureau # 9522)

    Parked at an airfield, circa 1934-1935. This airplane is assigned to USS Macon (ZRS-5).

    Courtesy of Richard K. Smith, author of the book "The Airships Akron & Macon", 1974.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 50KB; 740 x 455 pixels

     


    NOTES:

  • To the best of our knowledge, the pictures referenced here are all in the Public Domain, and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose.

  • Some images linked from this page may bear obsolete credit lines citing the organization name: "Naval Historical Center". Effective 1 December 2008 the name should be cited as: "Naval History and Heritage Command".


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval History and Heritage Command home page.

    Page made 13 October 2002
    Coding updated 7 May 2009