The Great Lakes Sport Trainer was designed in 1929 and built by Great Lakes Aircraft Company until they declared bankruptcy in 1933 at the height of the Great Depression. Revived in the 1960s with plans for homebuilders, the aircraft would go back into production in 1973 - 1985 with a reconstituted Great Lakes Aircraft Company building an updated trainer. In 2011 WACO Classic Aircraft picked up the baton announcing it would build the aircraft along side their WACO YMF. First aircraft left the production line in 2013, with N240DG manufactured in 2014.