WACO Aircraft Corporation shut its doors Wednesday, April 29 — abruptly ending production of the YMF-5 open-cockpit biplane and dealing one of the sharpest blows the traditional fabric-covered biplane world has absorbed in decades. A sign posted on the factory door at Battle Creek Executive Airport (KBTL) in Michigan said it all.
“It is with a very heavy heart that we share some deeply difficult news regarding the future of WACO Aircraft Corporation, Centennial Aircraft Services, and DIMOR Group Inc. After exhausting every possible path to keep our operations running, ownership has made the painful decision to cease aircraft production and maintenance services in the U.S., effective immediately.”
Employees departed the Battle Creek facility at the close of business Tuesday evening. Around 7 p.m. EDT, they received an email instructing them not to return the next morning. Roughly 40 workers were let go immediately. Approximately 20 reportedly remain on temporarily to manage the wind-down. Calls and emails to WACO and parent company Dimor Group had not been returned as of Wednesday afternoon.
An Abrupt End to a Hand-Built Legacy
The YMF-5 was no ordinary light aircraft. Each airframe required more than 6,000 hours of hand labor — built roughly three at a time, never on an assembly line. The finished product featured a welded steel-tube fuselage, staggered fabric-covered wings, a 300 hp Jacobs R-755A2M radial engine, and dual open cockpits seating one pilot aft and two passengers forward.
Later variants — designated the YMF-5D — came IFR-certified, with Garmin G500 avionics, ADS-B via the GTX 345R, and JPI EDM-930 engine monitoring. A new example was priced at approximately $658,400. Options ranged from Aerocet 3400 composite floats to turn it into an amphibious biplane, to more than 150 paint colors and 80 leather shades. Over 150 had been completed by 2017, with production continuing to individual order.
WACO also built the Great Lakes Model 2T-1A-1 aerobatic biplane, powered by a Lycoming AEIO-360-B1F6, and had most recently added the Junkers A50 — a light sport monoplane inspired by a late-1920s German design — to its portfolio under the affiliated Junkers Aircraft Corporation, also owned by Dimor Group.
Overextension in a Niche Market
The closure blindsided much of the industry. WACO exhibited at the 2026 Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo in Lakeland, Florida just weeks ago and had a full schedule ahead — including the Catarina Aviation show in Brazil (May), the American WACO Club Fly-In in Troy, Ohio (June 17–21), the 67th National WACO Club Reunion in Mount Vernon, Ohio (June 25–28), and EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (July 20–26). The Junkers A50 and A60 were on display at AERO Friedrichshafen as recently as this month.
In February 2025, Dimor Group announced a $12 million investment to build a new 45,000-square-foot factory at Battle Creek and add 40 jobs — expanding the campus to 150,000 square feet. That scale is now widely viewed as the central problem. A handcraft operation selling custom biplanes in the low single digits per year cannot sustain the overhead of a facility built for industrial ambitions.
The Second Domino in Two Months
This follows the March 27 collapse of Sonex Aircraft — the Oshkosh-based kit manufacturer behind the Sonex, Sonerai, and SubSonex jet — which shut down citing falling sales and bank pressure. Sonex owner Mark Schaible and his wife subsequently filed for personal bankruptcy. Two manufacturers gone inside five weeks. That’s not a coincidence; it signals something systemic in the light GA niche sector, not just isolated business failures.
What Existing Owners Face
Customers with deposits are in an uncertain position. Centennial Aircraft Services — the full-service avionics shop and FBO co-located at KBTL under the Dimor umbrella — is also shuttered. For the roughly 150-plus YMF-5s already flying, sourcing qualified Jacobs radial technicians and fabric airframe specialists, already a shrinking population, just became significantly harder.
Completed aircraft and an extensive parts supply are reportedly still on site. Their disposition has not been announced.
The WACO brand has survived at least two previous extinctions — the original Waco Aircraft Company folded in 1947, and a 1960s licensing venture under Allied Aero Industries collapsed after limited production, with estimates ranging from several dozen to perhaps 150 aircraft sold. Whether a third resurrection is possible, under new ownership and a more realistic production model, remains the central question. Developments will be reported as Dimor Group’s silence breaks.
Sources
- AVweb — WACO Aircraft Corporation Closure Coverage
- FLYING Magazine — WACO Shuts Down Operations
- Aviation Consumer — WACO Employee Notification Report
- EAA — WACO Aircraft Historical and Event Records
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