Then in the middle of the 1997 airshow season the Waco "Mystery Ship" inadvertently had the gear knocked out from under it at an airshow. The plane itself still had about a months worth of work that needed to be done before it could be test flown. This is the same engine that is used in the military T-38 fighter trainers. It was a General Electric J-85 (CJ-610) producing an amazing 3000 pounds of thrust.
#Pratt and whitney analog lab master weight install#
As Jimmy would tell it "Les's eyes got really big and he said, “Bring it to Kansas and lets do it!" Once the Waco was brought to Kansas, it took Shockley less then 6 months to install the jet. But now Jimmy was talking with the person who could make the Jet Waco happen. A Jet Waco was going to be ZAR's starship, but when he started asking engineers about doing this, he kept getting responses like "Jimmy, I wouldn't do that if I were you" or "There's no way that would fly." So instead, he went with the Aerostar as his Starship "Pride". This idea had originally come with the creation of ZAR. Jimmy wanted to put a jet engine under the belly of the Waco along with the 450 horse power Pratt & Whitney radial prop engine. In 1996 Jimmy got to talking with long time friend and fellow airshow performer Les Shockley, creator of the “Shock Wave” jet trucks, about an idea that had been in his mind for almost 20 years. During the time the "Jolly Roger" was down, Jimmy continued to fly the Waco "Mystery Ship" at airshows across North America. But do to lack of time and money, the V12 was never installed and a 450 P&W was put on in it's place (both Wacos now have 450 P&W's). This was to give the Waco a more stream line fuselage, increase speed, power, and vertical penetration.
The engine that was to be installed was not a radial engine, but a 550 hp Supercharged V12 Ranger engine. In the mid 90's the "Jolly Roger" was sent to Steve Wolf for minor repairs and to have a new engine installed. Now with two Wacos, Jimmy and fellow pilot Eliot Cross began performing together as the "Dueling Wacos." It had three possible cockpits, symmetrical wings, re-enforced fuselage, extra flying and landing wires, and lots of other little additions to make this one mean airplane. In the mid 80's, after the success of "Zar", Jimmy rebuilt the "Jolly Roger" with a monster 600 horsepower 1340 Pratt & Whitney engine.
The Waco Mystery Ship debuted in the early to mid 70's and was an immediate hit. It was flown with the original 220 Continental engine for several years, then upgraded to a 330 Jacobs engine, then to a 450 Pratt & Whitney when it became the "Jolly Roger." After the "Jolly Roger" was damaged, Jimmy was already in the process of building another Waco. The Waco N2369Q was the original Waco Jimmy Franklin bought in 1967.
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