The Waco A series is a range of light American-built twin side-by-side seater sporting biplanes of the early 1930s.
The Waco A series was introduced in 1932 as an affordable private-owner aircraft with cross-country range and baggage capacity and a more sporting image than the larger Waco F series. The A series offered a number of engine options which had varying sub-designations. The power range lay between the KBA with a Kinner engine and the later UBA with a Continental powerplant.
The PLA "Sportsman" of 1933 introduced a longer wider fuselage and a higher useful load and had a Jacobs LA-1 radial engine. The last model in the series was the ULA, also of 1933, with a powerplant.
The A series was bought mainly by private pilot owners with a sporting inclination. Relatively few were produced and the type survives in small numbers in 2009. A PBA is on display in the Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum at Dauster Field near St Louis, Missouri.
Data from Aerofiles