Billy Dawson of Seguin, Texas with his Hatz Classic

      The Hatz Classic can trace its history back to the Hatz CB-1.  The CB-1 was designed in the late 1960’s, by John Hatz of Gleeson, Wisconsin.  His goal was to build a well behaved, inexpensive biplane to replace his Waco.  The design did not reach its current level of refinement until Billy Dawson of Seguin, Texas begin building his third example of the modified Hatz.  This airplane, which differs in many ways from the original CB-1 design, came to be known as the Hatz Classic. 

Some of the more noticeable differences are: 

• The outward appearance, which is more rounded or fuller and resembles the style of the grand airplanes of  the 30’s. 
• A larger engine fully enclosed in the cowling.            
• The use of push-pull tubes in place of cables for the aileron and elevator control linkage.            
• Aluminum ailerons.         
• Seats are relocated and reclined, allowing more leg room and comfort in the cockpits.

        Billy succeeded in building an airplane that was above all fun to fly.  It has comfortable seats and a roomy cockpit.  It has a reasonable fuel range.  With the redefined windshield shape there is very little wind in either cockpit.  A limited baggage compartment is usually built into the turtle deck, the upper portion of the fuselage directly behind the rear seat.  The normal cruising speed of 115-120 mph which makes the Hatz Classic comparable to many larger, more powerful biplanes, the Stearman, for example.

       These characteristics make The Classic model suitable for reasonable cross country trips.  It’s low landing speed of around 43 mph makes the classic right at home on Billy’s 1400’ grass airstrip, located behind his home.  The 1,000 + feet per minute rate of climb and solid control feel, make The Classic an exciting platform for limited aerobatics.  Maneuvers such as standard loops, barrel rolls, and hammerheads are easily mastered and performed.  Because the airplane weighs over a 1,000 pounds empty and with a gross weight of 1,700 pounds, it has a heavier or bigger feel than many of the experimental airplanes available today.  The 50” cord Clark Y airfoil provides good lift at lower speeds.  The influences of the weight, lift and wing shape make the Hatz Classic as manageable as any tail dragger during cross wind landings, and ground handling.  Below is a summary of the awards presented to Billy and his Hatz Classic.

• ‘96 Oshkosh - Reserve Grand Champion - Plans Built                     
• ‘97 Grand Champion Experimental - Biplane Expo
• ‘97 Reserve Grand Champion Open Cockpit - Biplane Expo            
• ‘97 Oshkosh - Grand Champion - Plans Built