About Dream Wacos
I remember attending Sun N Fun with my friends Les Banta and John Hazelton circa 2010 and seeing a Waco biplane for the first time. I was struck speechless. Stopping and staring, walking around it carefully and scrutinizing every beautiful line, I knew then that I had to find a way to buy one. It was a Waco Classic, the modern manufacturer of the classic Waco YMF 5, and it was amazing. Eventually Les and found one we could afford, N2269V, and my love affair with these planes really began.
After a couple of years we sold N2269V and I began to look carefully for another Waco biplane to replace it. My friend, Barry Branin, helped me in my search and introduced me to Dave Allen of Coronado, California who was selling his 1934 UMF 3 biplane. I remember rounding the corner of his hangar and, if it’s possible, being even more dumbstruck than when I saw my first Waco. It was the prettiest airplane I’d ever seen. It was truly my “dream Waco”.
Since that day I’ve been fortunate to see and fly many other antiques, especially Wacos, and have come to own a number of them. This site is dedicated to those wonderful aircraft and their stories, as well as the many good friends I have been lucky enough to know who share my passion for them. I hope you find this site informative and even inspiring. My wish is that you see the beauty, freedom, and nostalgia they represent in some measure the way I do and enjoy yourself as you look around.
About Me
After a Stinson airplane ride with my father, mother, and grandmother at Downtown Airpark in Oklahoma City, OK.
My first ride in an airplane was in 1958. Just two weeks old my father bundled my mother and me into his Aeronca Champ and we left the security of earth for the sky’s freedom. My mother never returned but I was introduced to a lifelong passion. Hopping rides as a kid hanging around the airport I didn’t learn to fly until my early twenties. Taking a too long sabbatical as I built first my business and political career before turning to marry and raise two sons I didn’t fly for nearly a quarter century. I am trying to make up for lost time!
Beginning just a few years ago, in 2009 I began flying again first in Cessna 172’s, then 182’s. I bought my first plane with my friend Les, a 1989 Beechcraft Bonanza, followed by another one, then Cirrus, TBM and Piaggio Avanti II. I’ve owned a lot of other airplanes along the way and by accident became a “collector”. Today I am working toward collecting all of the Waco “F” models made between 1930 and 1940. I have four you can see here and am looking hard for a “little F”, the first F model Waco to complete the series. You will see other antiques here that have captured my imagination in one way or another. They’ve all taken my wallet hostage!
Professionally, I’m an entrepreneur in the insurance distribution business and helping to build a community bank as its chairman. Links to my professional websites are in the links page here: Friends & Resources
My wife Sharon and I have been married 31 years and counting and she is the true joy of my life. We have two sons Tyler and Brendan who are both pursuing successful business careers. We love to travel and split our time at home between Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Calistoga, California. I love flying antique airplanes in both places.
More Reflections on Airplanes & Flying
Where did the name “Dream Wacos” come from?
I am a big believer in the power of dreams and the importance of having dreams in our lives. I find that many people don’t have any dreams. Often they are afraid to dream, fearing that dreaming will just result in disappointment. Some don’t know how to dream. For a number of years an old friend of mine worked for our company as a “Dream Coach” helping our team learn how to imagine bigger futures for themselves and their families. I often explain that the difference between “dreams” and “goals” is that goals have a number and a deadline. Dreams are of necessity fuzzier but can also be bigger. When I saw my UMF 3 in Dave Allen’s hangar it was at, what I was to realize later, the end of a pursuit of an idealized idea of aviation perfection. I had searched north and south, east and west, high and literally low, for the Waco biplane I had envisioned in my minds eye. The vision was a dream. And finding Dave and the F3 was a dream come true.
Often even those of us who have learned to dream still have much to learn about dreaming big, or bigger. So it was with me when I bought Dave’s masterwork and created a limited liability company to own it called Dream Waco, LLC. It was a dream Waco after all. But now, as my dreams of antique aviation and the magic of bouncing along a thousand feet above the earth as I smell the newly mown grass below while I am transported both horizontally and through time I realize that my dreams then were too small. There are many “dream” Wacos and other antiques to experience. So, that is why I named this website what I did.
How about you? What do you dream of? You do dream don’t you?
How many aircraft does Dream Wacos currently have?
I currently own ten antique airplanes and projects. Three of those are currently in non flying status and being “restored” to their former glory. All will fly soon. Each is described in these pages. Someone asked me recently what else is on my list of aircraft I’d like to find to add to the collection. I hadn’t given it much thought. A friend in California, Eric Presten, has published a number of photography books on antique aircraft (they are wonderful and available either on Amazon or if not there drop me a note and I’ll connect you with Eric) and as I turn every page I see possibilities. But, I am now currently looking for a “little F” Waco, the first F model in the series manufactured beginning in 1930. These are known as RNF, INF, KNF, MNF depending on motor. I want one to finish my F model collection. I also would like to own a Waco Taperwing, a Ryan STA, a Rearwin Sportster, an Aeronca Champ (because that’s the first airplane I ever flew in), an antique Great Lakes biplane and a Waco F6 (any version!). If you have an idea for me please let me know!
Where to Find Dream Wacos?
You can find Dream Wacos, and me too for that matter, at Wiley Post Airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Sonoma Skypark Airport in Sonoma, California, Brodhead Airport in Brodhead, Wisconsin or at many of the antique fly ins but especially Airventure and Sun N Fun.