- Portland, Northampton County, resident Dan Wilkins owns a 1941 WACO UPF-7 Biplane
- He often flies it over the Slate Belt area and shares photos in a local Facebook group
- He also loves to share the experience of owning the historic plane and often takes it to fly-ins
FORKS TWP., Pa. – The activity at Braden Airpark on Wednesday was like a scene from an old movie.
On the horizon, a graceful, open-cockpit biplane appeared — its pilot donning a leather helmet — on approach to Runway 18/36.
But unlike Cessnas and other small, single-engine aircraft that routinely come and go from the area, the meticulously restored WACO UPF-7 was a special attraction.
Gloss black with two bright orange stripes down the middle, it came off the line of the WACO (rhymes with taco) aircraft manufacturer in an era that helped shape modern history.
"I don't know how many World War II folks went and learned on there. Some of them went on to serve their country as pilots or navigators or bombardiers, whatever level they reached.”Plane owner Dan Wilkins
“It was registered on Dec. 4, 1941, three days before Pearl Harbor,” said Dan Wilkins, the plane’s owner.
“It immediately went from its factory in Troy, Ohio, which is near Dayton, and was flown to Kansas and became part of a flight school. I don't know how many World War II folks went and learned on there,” Wilkins said, gesturing toward the plane.
“Some of them went on to serve their country as pilots or navigators or bombardiers, whatever level they reached.”
Today, the plane can often be spotted soaring over the Slate Belt, its old quarries part of a conjoined landscape in the Lehigh Valley also dedicated to the coal, iron and steel industries and the railroad and canal networks that built them.
Up in the air, Wilkins seemed just as comfortable talking about the historical prevalence of slate quarrying in the area as he was discussing his own story — and the story of his vintage aircraft.
A romance with aviation
“I don’t know that there was ever a time I was not interested in aviation,” said Wilkins, who resides in the tiny borough of Portland, Northampton County.
“I remember as a kid, for my fifth birthday, I got a little model airplane I used to run down the sidewalk. I just thought that's the way it was for everybody.
"I drew airplanes on my notebook at school. I had a big desk made out of formica at home my parents had for me, and there was always airplanes on there. And I've always liked airplanes.”
Wilkins took his first flight lesson right after Labor Day when he started 10th grade. By the following spring, he had turned 16 and soloed his first flight — a milestone marking proficiency in a takeoff, flight and safe landing.
At a time when most kids his age were learning to drive, Wilkins got his pilot’s license at age 17 behind the controls of a Cessna 150.
It cemented a romance with flying, but then another love would come along.
“I wanted to get back into flying one time, later on. I hoped that one day I'd be able to get back into flying, and then I didn’t do any flying for over 35 years.”Plane owner Dan Wilkins
“I went to college, I flew a little bit, I found an airport near the college that would rent me an airplane," Wilkins said.
"I would fly when I got home now and then, but by the time I got out of college, I had a serious girlfriend and we got married with no money for this stuff. We had careers, were both school teachers, and bought a house and raised a family.
“I wanted to get back into flying one time, later on. I hoped that one day I'd be able to get back into flying, and then I didn’t do any flying for over 35 years.”
‘You oughta get back’
Wilkins’ wife, Caryl, passed from this life on Dec. 28, 2012, after battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
Her obituary would document how the disease robbed her of her strength and ability to move, but “could not take away her spirit, ability to enjoy life, sense of humor and love for family and friends.”
In taking care of her, Dan Wilkins said he felt the sadness as their time together slipped away. But he also felt something else, too — encouragement to get back in the air.
"She said, ‘You oughta get back into flying. She was looking for a way for me to have a distraction from taking care of her. She was very supportive. ... She had a tear in her eye, a little smile on her face," he said. "And when she was gone, I did just that.”Plane owner Dan Wilkins
“I took care of her, helped her do things, and at that time she said, ‘You oughta get back into flying,’" he said. "She was looking for a way for me to have a distraction from taking care of her. She was very supportive.”
So Wilkins found a plane and climbed back into the pilot’s seat.
“I flew around a little bit, but I didn’t fly very far because I had to stay pretty close to home," he said. "And as my wife’s need for support increased, I flew very little before she was gone.”
But Caryl Wilkins encouraged him to live out his dream — and to buy that dream plane after she passed.
“She had a tear in her eye, a little smile on her face," he said. "And when she was gone, I did just that.”
‘I like to share the experience’
“I wanted to get a biplane and I looked at some — just online or regular websites for stuff for sale. And I started to raise the value of the dollar amount that I would spend,” Wilkins said.
One day at Sky Manor, a small airport in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, he said, he saw a plane like the one he wanted.
“They let me sit in it and they let me fly it a week later," he said. "They were with me and the guy said, ‘You’ll have no problem flying one of these.’”
The plane was for sale, but it’s not the plane Wilkins ended up with. Instead, he was directed to a company in Minnesota that restores planes like the one he was looking for.
The rest, as they say, is history.
“It was essentially a brand new plane, and I thought about it," he said. "I thought about it and I said, ‘I want one.’ About a year later I got it.”
Wilkins estimates he’s logged 1,600 to 1,700 hours in the air now — mostly in his WACO UPF-7.
He documents his local flights on the Slate Belt Chatter Facebook group, sharing changes in the fall foliage from a much different perspective.
"I like to share my airplane. I like to share me, and I like to share the experience.”Plane owner Dan Wilkins
He also loves to share the experience of owning the historic plane and often takes it to fly-ins, including the aptly named “Sentimental Journey” at Lock Haven’s Piper Memorial Airport.
He’s flown some long haul, too. Along the way, he’s given out rides to share his love of aviation with others. After all, it’s not every day you get to experience history and see an aircraft like this up close.
“I know what it's like not to have one of these planes,” Wilkins said. “So I know what it's like to be, so to speak, on the other side, and looking in. And I like to share my airplane. I like to share me, and I like to share the experience.”
