My Sportsman Waco 60 had gotten a bit ratty from runway and hangar rash, and I finally tore out the landing gear one day on a sorry landing attempt (dumb thumbs). So, I decided to re-cover and refurbish it, since it's such a great-flying airplane. The original was red and white plastic of come kind, and I had a .80 Saito in it, which was pretty good power for the plane, but vertical wasn't quite what I wanted.

Now, it's covered in yellow Solartex, and the black trim, including all the checkerboarding, is hand painted latex, and the whole shebang is clearcoated with gloss LustreKote. I debated on whether to keep the .80 in it, the engine is dead reliable and runs great. I was in the market for an engine for a BUSA Bristol that I'm building, and was going to put a .65 in it, but really wanted a little more power for the WACO. I went to the LHS to get a .91S Saito, but he didn't have one, so I left with a 1.00 Saito. It's surprisingly close to the .80 in overall dimensions, just a bit taller, but it fit the same engine mount, and the prop hub is only 1/8 inch further out than before, hardly noticeable. I also went from a 14-6 to a 15-8 prop; haven't broken the engine in yet, so I may change that, depending on the rpm's I get. The .80 will wind up on the Bristol.

I can't decide on how to trim the cowl. It's all yellow right now, and my initial plan was to checkerboard the front half of it to match the tail. My other option is to extend the black stripe on top of the fuse out onto the cowl, and wrap it around the sides, similar to the original scheme. What does everyone think?

I hope to "re-maiden" it this weekend, weather permitting. The addition of the larger engine allowed me to omit about 4 ounces of lead from the firewall, HURRAY!

First pic is the original colors.