Aircraft model
WACO CLASSIC AIRCRAFT YMF-F5C
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Waco YMF-F5C is a new-production 1930s biplane: Waco Classic Aircraft restarted manufacture of the YMF design in 1986 under the original type certificate, building open-cockpit radial-engined biplanes to modern standards with modern materials and avionics.
It is bought by people who want the 1930s experience without a 1930s aeroplane, and that is exactly what it delivers — a new airframe, a factory to call, and a warranty, in an aeroplane that looks and sounds like 1935. It seats two in the front cockpit and the pilot behind. The costs are those of any radial biplane: an engine that throws oil and is expensive to overhaul, fabric needing periodic recovering, hangarage, and bracing wires to inspect. Prices are high because these are new aeroplanes, not restorations.
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- WACO CLASSIC AIRCRAFT YMF-F5C
What it is
| Seats | 3 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Jacobs R-755-B2 (radial) |
| Horsepower | 275 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1986 |
| Production end | current |
| Endorsements required | high-performance;tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 105 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 450 nm |
| Service ceiling | 17,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,000 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 48 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 3 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 950 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 650 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,950 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,000 lb |
| Usable fuel | 50 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 15.4 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $190,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $394,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,200 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $48,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $78,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 80 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 53 |
| Median year built | 2011.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 4 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 75.47 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 56.6 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 12 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 22.64 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 53 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 53 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 53 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 0.8 of 103 |
| Support | 3.2 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 6.9 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 32.28 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 775.
- Support: class median 147.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.9.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.