Bolting On Some Excitement

 Waco biplanes are revered for their looks, longevity, and limberness in the sky. They were popular barnstormers in the '30s and '40s, and are still pushed around the sky for that today. But what if you want even more excitement than the ability to loop and roll and chandelle?

The folks at John Klatt Airshows teamed up with Jack Link's Beef Jerky to bolt a GE J85 jet engine below the (also not original) P&W 985 radial, adding 3,000 pounds of thrust, and a whole lotta excitement, to a 1929 Taperwing.

_MBP6138

(Well, it started as a 1929 model, but they moved the cockpit three feet aft, re-engineered the control surfaces, replaced some wood structures with carbon fiber, etc., etc., but, hey! It's still a 1929. Right?)

The team let me tag along and capture them on a practice day. Exciting is right! They don't call it Screamin' Sasquatch for nothing.