Firm back pressure on the stick brings three positive Gs that quickly lift the nose up through the horizon and towards the fair-weather cumulus clouds far overhead. Glance left and right at the checkerboard wing tips for alignment, then relax the back pressure and wait for the moment that open-cockpit fliers fondly anticipate: floating weightless at the top of a loop while gazing upward at the Earth. Fittingly, this sublime experience takes place over Lake Michigan in a Great Lakes by Waco biplane, the first new 2T-1A-2 Sport Trainer ever produced at the factory in nearby Battle Creek— and the first new production aircraft of its kind to take to the skies in almost 30 years. Placid air over the cool water and the golden glow of a summer evening provide ideal conditions in which to evaluate this special airplane, and to appreciate its subtle changes. Its external dimensions, Lycoming IO-360 engine, and Hartzell constant-speed prop are the same as its predecessors, but differences in the new and old airplanes are more than skin deep. 52 | AOPA PILOT November 2013