Waco GXE
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The GXE is the original Waco 10 of 1927 with the 90 hp war-surplus Curtiss OX-5, later called the Waco 90 and then GXE: a three-seat open-cockpit biplane that was the best-selling American sport and training aeroplane of 1927-29, approved under ATC A-13 in October 1927 and sold for $2,385-2,460. It cruises at about 84 mph, stalls at 37 and carries 825 lb on 2,025 lb gross.
An OX-5 Waco is the entry point to pre-1930 antiques and it comes with the OX-5's known habits: a heavy water-cooled V-8 with the radiator under the upper wing centre section, which Bowers notes scalded occupants when it leaked, no wheel brakes as built, and a 90 hp engine that is now maintained by a handful of specialists on parts stocks that are finite. Many GXEs were re-engined with air-cooled conversions or later radials in period, so establish which engine the aircraft actually carries and under what approval before taking any figure here as its own. The airframe is the common Waco 10 and the antique community supports it. No current asking price was found.
Variants of the Waco 10 / O series
- GXE · 1927 · 33 active · this page
- ASO · 1928 · 33 active
Also consider
TAILFAX SCORE
Partial: 5 out of 30 (safety not scored, too few records)
Among 3–4 seat pistons (223 models)
Compare with…
Put Waco GXE side by side with up to three other models.
- Waco GXE
Watch this model
One email a day if anything changes: new ADs and NTSB records.
What it is
| Seats | 3 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Curtiss OX-5 |
| Horsepower | 90 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1927 |
| Production end | 1930 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise (75 % power) | 73 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range (75 %, standard fuel, 30-min reserve) | 335 nm |
| Service ceiling | 12,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 520 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 32 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 3 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 825 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,025 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,200 lb |
| Usable fuel | — |
| Fuel burn at cruise | — |
Estimated cost to own
An estimate, not a quote. Change the inputs to match how you would fly it. Defaults are for a single-engine piston, 3–4 seats.
| Maintenance reserve | hourly | $2,000/yr | |
| Insurance | fixed | $2,000/yr | |
| Annual inspection | fixed | $1,800/yr | |
| Hangar | fixed | $6,000/yr | |
| Rental rate, wet | for comparison |
No fuel burn is on record for this model, so fuel is not included.
No TBO or overhaul cost is on record for this model, so the engine reserve is not included.
How these estimates are built. Fuel = this model's typical burn x the national average price from AirNav's Fuel Price Report (100LL $7.41, Jet A $7.66 per gallon, 5 Oct 2026; your airport may differ by $2 or more). Engine reserve = typical overhaul cost / TBO for this engine. The remaining lines are class-level defaults, not quotes for this aircraft: annual inspection is the base inspection fee (findings are counted in the per-hour maintenance line); insurance assumes an instrument-rated owner with time in type and a $1M liability limit - less experienced pilots commonly pay 1.5-2x; hangar and tie-down are national mid-tier figures, with rural and metro options; the rental rate is a 2026 flight-school rate for a comparable aircraft, including fuel. Twin and turboprop maintenance defaults are estimates, not published figures. Sources: AirNav, BWI Aviation Insurance (2019-2026), Flying (May 2026), Savvy Aviation, American Flight Schools, published airport rate sheets. Every default is editable - change any number to match your situation. Depreciation, taxes, financing and major upgrades are not included. Depreciation is not included. An estimate, not a quote.
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | — |
|---|---|
| Price, high | — |
| Prices as of | — |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 401 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 33 |
| Median year built | 1928 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 30.3 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 30.3 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 6 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 18.18 · 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 33 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 33 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 33 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 0.2 of 103 |
| Support | 1.5 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 3.3 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | Partial: 5 out of 30 (safety not scored, too few records)6 |
These record scores treat Waco GXE as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes the record of aircraft once registered under WACO/STILLEY. Prices are not combined.
- Accident record: class median 33.21 · 223 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 796.
- Support: class median 131.
- Liquidity: class median 19.89.
- 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. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 8 · scores Sep 30