Troy is hometown of the WACO Aircraft Co., which manufactured aircraft and combat gliders from 1923-1946. At one time, it was the largest manufacturer of private aircraft in the United States. The production of the two planes that are to be displayed at the Troy hangar helped bring WACO Aircraft to the nation’s attention in 1926, said Andy Heins, curator and vice president of the WACO Historical Society board of trustees.
All of the artifacts that the Ohio Historical Society agreed to loan were part of the former Ohio History of Flight Museum founded by Foster Lane, a WACO owner and pioneer aviator.
The planes and other artifacts are to be delivered by truck from Columbus to Troy within the next week. Dick Lavy Trucking Inc., of Bradford, and the owners/operators of the WACO Warehouse, located in the original WACO factory building, are donating a tractor-trailer truck and driver for the move, officials said.