MS 109 Clayton J. Brukner Collection

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Clayton John Brukner was born December 18, 1896 in Ravenna, Nebraska, the youngest of seven children of John and Rachel Brukner. After a brief move to Burkeville, Virginia, the Brukners settled in Battle Creek, Michigan where Clayton entered school, graduating from Battle Creek Central High School in 1915.

Always interested in electronics and machines, Clayton found work as an electrical maintenance man at the Postum Company in Battle Creek. He later went to work for the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company in Buffalo, New York and then to Aeromarine and Standard Aircraft Company.

With assistance from George E. "Buck" Weaver, Brukner and his closest friend, James Elwood Junkin, formed an aircraft company in 1920 and agreed to call it the Weaver Aircraft Company or Waco for short. The company was situated at Weaver's airfield in Lorain, Ohio.

In 1923 Brukner and Junkin moved to Troy, Ohio where they formed the Advance Aircraft Company, keeping the name Waco to describe the company's aircraft. During the twenties and thirties, Brukner's company turned out numerous civil aircraft models achieving dominance in the light aircraft field.

In June 1929, Brukner changed the name of his company from the Advance Aircraft Company to the Waco Aircraft Company. The company continued to specialize in light civil aircraft, both open cockpit and cabin designs.

During World War II, Waco designed and built primary trainers and troop and cargo carrying gliders for the Army Air Forces. During the war, Waco built 1,607 CG-3, CG-4, CG-13, and CG-15 gliders and other companies built, on contract, 13,402 additional gliders.

After the war, Brukner and his company concentrated on building airplane parts and small machinery, declining to compete in the civil aircraft market. In 1963, Brukner sold his company to Allied Aero Industries, Inc. of Syracuse, NY. The Troy plant was closed soon after.

Interested in increasing cooperation among the aircraft companies in the country, Brukner was active in the Manufacturers Aircraft Association, an organization which served to disseminate information throughout the aircraft industry.

Always an avid lover of nature, Brukner bought land for a wildlife refuge seven miles from Troy in 1934. This became known as the Brukner Nature Center which was incorporated on June 27, 1967 by the State of Ohio for educational purposes. An active civic leader in Troy, Brukner served on the board of the Stouder
Memorial Hospital from 1945-1950. One wing of the hospital, built largely from Brukner's financial assistance, was named for him in 1972.

Clayton J. Brukner died on December 26, 1977. He was buried at Lyons Lake Cemetery in Marshall, Michigan.

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