Plane of the week #2 the Great Lakes Sport Trainer

[wifesaysno]

It was suggested to me by a certain flying trucker to cover this in my next plane-of-the-week. So here it goes:

http://greatlakesaircraftcompany.com/GLACHistory.html

To begin with let me say the shortest explanation of what the Sport Trainer is:
The Great Lakes was born 9months after a WACO and a Pitts had a very kinky night in a motel.

Now on to business....

The Great Lakes 2T-1A-2 currently just entering production at WACO Classic Aircraft marks the 3rd time the Great Lakes has re-entered production while you could also buy plans for them around 40 years ago. Only a deserving aircraft would be in that many separate production runs by separate manufactures each 3 decades apart!

The Great Lakes Aircraft Company started life in 1929 producing various biplanes for civil and United States Navy use in the form of float planes, seaplanes, and torpedo bombers. Shortly after they came into being they produced the first 2T Sport Trainer biplane that started the lineage we know today as the Great Lakes.

The Sport Trainer is a 2 seat open cockpit biplane that is aerobatic. The 2T-1A is stressed for rather mild aerobatics of ~+5gs and -3gs. However, there have been more g-capable models over the many decades. The most confusing part of the Sport Trainer's legacy lies in the engines installed.
There have been a bewildering array of engines hung (sometimes barely) on the front of this little biplane. 2Ts were first built with rather tiny 90hp inlines. After the Great Lakes Aircraft Company went under, the plans after World War II were put up for sale at various times. Talking to my boss about this it sounds extremely confusing who actually was selling the plans. Proof you should not believe everything you read on the internet! (except this of course

[Hagar]

Very interesting. A couple of these cute little biplanes are regular visitors to local fly-ins. I took these at Popham last year.

G-GLII (ex N3613L Dreamcatcher)
G-GLST

[wifesaysno]

Very interesting. A couple of these cute little biplanes are regular visitors to local fly-ins. I took these at Popham last year.

G-GLII
G-GLST

Nice shots Hagar!
I will try to post some pictures of the 2T-1A that is being restored here. The process has been retarded because us in the engineering dept keep wanting to take measurements.

[Flying Trucker]

Wonderful Adam...great commentary and very well done...

Not sure why your Links did not come out in "RED" taking us too the information but it was just as easy to copy and paste them.

My dad's Great Lakes was a radial engine aircraft...will see if I can find something on it.
I am thinking it was the same engine as what was in the Cessna 165 (do not know why I think this... but will check it out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_165

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Super_Scarab

Thanks for the Links to those two pictures Doug (the other Doug Adam... ...do not want to confuse you...)...

[wifesaysno]

Wonderful Adam...great commentary and very well done...

Not sure why your Links did not come out in "RED" taking us too the information but it was just as easy to copy and paste them.

My dad's Great Lakes was a radial engine aircraft...will see if I can find something on it.
I am thinking it was the same engine as what was in the Cessna 165 (do not know why I think this... but will check it out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_165

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Super_Scarab

Thanks for the Links to those two pictures Doug (the other Doug Adam... ...do not want to confuse you...)...

Yeah I was wondering what was going on, I edited it several times to try to make the links clickable, re-pasted links, re-did the entire post, and then I gave up 

So your father's GL had a Warner Scarab? Well there is a perfect example of the wide array of engines hung on these planes!