Waco UMF 3 Words of Recognition
When I rounded the corner of Dave Allen’s hangar and saw him rubbing on the wing of the F3 I fell in love. Not with Dave. Though we did become friends! But with this amazing aircraft, brought back to life by Dave with 12,000 hours of painstaking labor was breathtaking.
We began my inspection at the right front of the engine cowl and 3.5 hours later Dave and I had become friends and I had become NC13571’s new caretaker. After completing a few projects for me my friend Doug Durning, who is sadly no longer with us, ferried the plane to Oklahoma City for me.
This Waco, one of 11 manufactured in 1934 is currently the only UMF 3 still flying. Perhaps its most well known former owner was British movie and stage actor Brian Aherne who flew it back and forth between Los Angeles and New York in the 1930’s. After a stint in service to the Civilian Pilot Training program before the war it ended up being in a grass fire and its flying days were over until Barry Branin rescued it and gave it to Dave in payment for his restoration of Barry’s 1935 YMF 5.
After Doug brought it to me in Oklahoma City I flew it for several years. After buying the UBF 2 and deciding to take it to Airventure in 2023 Rob Lock suggested I take the UMF 3 as well. I decided that I’d like to do that to see if we could get some recognition for Dave’s master craftsmanship developed over the decades as he restored a half dozen beautiful antiques. Jared Calvert ferried the F3 to Rob’s shop in Winterhaven where we rejuvenated the 27 coats of hand rubbed dope Dave had applied, refaced all the instruments using the 1934 Pioneer catalog and generally cleaned and polished the plane.
This aircraft has a lot of original Waco parts including the throttles and wheel pants. The wings came from a wrecked Waco Classic brought back from Hawaii and the fuselage and sheet metal were made from Waco’s drawings. The compound curves of the front windshield were created from a salvaged Luscomb windscreen and Dave spent a full week working to get the checkerboard tail perfect. He told me he couldn’t see straight or read for another week!
After Rob’s clean up and repairs to landing gear and other minor issues Jared ferried it to my favorite airport Poplar Grove (C77) and I spent another couple of days cleaning and polishing. Then I flew it to Airventure where all Dave’s, Rob’s, Jamie’s, Neal’s and other work paid off with a Bronze Lindy. In 2024 I took it back to Sun N Fun where it also won Silver Age Champion Antique.
Why this Waco UMF 3?
This plane’s unique history includes ownership by a famous movie actor (Brian Aherne), use as a CPTP trainer in the lead up to World War II and is one of only two Waco UMF 3’s in existence (this is the only one flying as Harold Johnson’s plane is on permanent static exhibit at the Waco Museum in Troy, Ohio).
My friend Barry Branin sent me literally all over the country looking at Waco biplanes in 2018. But he also advised me to wait until I could meet Dave Allen and see his UMF 3. I’m glad I did as it was the nicest original Waco restoration I’d ever seen.
What I love about this plane goes beyond the skin deep beauty of its paint and polished nickel and chrome. Beneath the covers it’s a master work of careful craftsman second to no else’s. Beyond that it is thrilling to fly and is easy to do hands off using your outstretched hands to steer with. It’s comfortable to fly across the country and it rewards careful precision on landing. The Waco company’s slogan was “Ask Any Pilot” and if you ask any pilot who’s flown an open cockpit biplane, and especially those of us who have been privileged to fly NC 13571, we’ll tell you “you simply cannot do better!’
