The Collings Foundation is a private non-profit educational foundation located in Stow, Massachusetts, with a mission dedicated to the preservation and public display of transportation-related history, namely automobile and aviation history. The Collings Foundation is headquartered at a small private airfield in Stow that includes a small museum that opens for special events and pre-scheduled tour groups. The American Heritage Museum, a collection of military vehicles, is located on the grounds of the foundation. The organization also has a satellite operations base at

Ellington Field Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base is a joint installation shared by various active component and reserve component military units, as well as aircraft flight operations of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under the aegi ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, primarily housing its

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

and

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

jet aircraft and helicopter collection. The Collings Foundation operated two touring collections of historic military aircraft: The Wings of Freedom Tour and The Vietnam Memorial Flight. The Wings of Freedom tour ended in 2023 after the organization grounded their WWII aircraft. The Collings Foundation sold vintage

warbird A warbird is any vintage military aircraft now operated by civilian organizations and individuals, or in some instances, by historic arms of military forces, such as the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, the Royal Australian Air Force's No. 100 ...

rides to the general public through a flight exemption until permission for such flights was revoked by the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

following the fatal 2019 crash of the foundation's B-17G.

History

The organization was founded in 1979 by former Data Terminal Systems chairman Robert F. Collings and his wife Caroline Collings. , Caroline Collings continues to serve as financial director, while son Rob Collings is the CEO and chief pilot of the foundation. On July 4, 2013, the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation founded by Jacques Littlefield and located in

Portola Valley, California Portola Valley is an incorporated List of municipalities in California, town in San Mateo County, California, United States. Located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Portola Valley is a small, wealthy com ...

, donated their entire collection of military vehicles to the Collings Foundation. A year later, the Collings Foundation auctioned off 120 of the vehicles to fund creation of a new museum at their headquarters. The remaining vehicles are now the centerpiece of the American Heritage Museum in Stow, Massachusetts. In 2015, the Stow Planning Board questioned the educational merit of the proposed museum. The educational purpose was needed in order to allow the planned museum to be built on land that was zoned for residential use. The Planning Board rejected the foundation's application in August 2015 but a settlement was eventually reached in July 2017 and construction of the museum was completed in 2018. The museum held a "preview" opening in October 2018 and fully opened in May 2019. The foundation acquired 9 of 25 airplanes for sale from the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in exchange for helping the museum out of bankruptcy in May 2015. The organization's B-17G Flying Fortress crashed in October, 2019, killing seven of the thirteen people on board. In March 2020, the organization's permission to carry passengers was revoked by the

(FAA), citing “notable maintenance discrepancies” and a failure to maintain a “a culture of safety” leading up to the crash. In 2023, it traded a Stearman PT-17 to the

National Museum of the United States Air Force The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is ...

in exchange for a

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

. The following month, an original

Nieuport 28 The Nieuport 28 C.1, a French biplane fighter aircraft flown during World War I, was built by Nieuport and designed by Gustave Delage. Owing its lineage to the successful line of sesquiplane fighters that included the Nieuport 17, the Nieupor ...

owned by the foundation was damaged in an accident. Later that year, it announced it would be ending its Wings of Freedom tour and grounding its aircraft.

Collection

Aircraft collection

Airworthy aircraft

* Bell UH-1E Iroquois * Bleriot XI – replica * Boeing PT-17 Kaydet * Boeing PT-17 Kaydet * Cessna UC-78 Bobcat * Consolidated B-24J Liberator ''"Witchcraft"'' * Curtiss Headless Pusher * Curtiss Model F * Curtiss P-40B Tomahawk * Curtiss TP-40N Warhawk * Douglas A-1E Skyraider * Douglas TA-4J Skyhawk * Grumman FM-2 Wildcat * Grumman TBM-3E Avenger * Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat * Lockheed P-38L Lightning ''"Pudgy V"'' *

Lockheed T-33 The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is an American subsonic jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then d ...

McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American Tandem#Aviation, tandem two-seat, twinjet, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic aircraft, supersonic jet interceptor aircraft, interceptor and fighter-bomber that was developed by ...

* Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe ''"White 1"'' – Reproduction * Morane-Saulnier MS.500 Criquet – pained as Fi 156 * North American A-36 Mustang * North American AT-6 Texan * North American B-25J Mitchell ''"Tondelayo"'' * North American F-100F Super Sabre * North American TF-51D Mustang ''"Toulouse Nuts"'' * North American TP-51C Mustang ''"Betty Jane"'' * Supermarine Spitfire IX * Vought F4U-5NL Corsair * Waco UPF-7

Static aircraft

* Lockheed T-33 * Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-10 * Wright Model EX " Vin Fiz Flyer" – Replica

Aircraft under restoration

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

''44-83785'' * Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina * Douglas A-26B Invader *

Fairchild PT-19 The Fairchild PT-19 (company designation Fairchild M62) is an American monoplane primary trainer aircraft that served with the United States Army Air Forces, Royal Air Force, RAF and Royal Canadian Air Force, RCAF during World War II. Design ...

* Focke-Wulf Fw 190 F-8 ''"White One"'', ''Werknummer'' 931 862 * Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-9 ''"White Two"'' * Grumman G-21 Goose *

* Piper L-4H Grasshopper 43-30426 ''"Rosie the Rocketer"'' (flown by then-Major Charles Carpenter in France, 1944).

Automobile collection

Brass era

*1901 Oldsmobile Curved Dash *1904 Franklin Type A Roadster *1906 Pope Waverly Electric Carriage, original un-restored *1906 Stanley Steamer Touring Car (20 hp) *1908 Cadillac Open Roadster Runabout *1913 Ford Model T Touring Car *1913 Mercer Speedster Raceabout (replica) *1914 Stutz Bearcat *1915 Buick Touring Car *1916 Chalmers Model 120 Sedan *1916 Chevrolet Baby Grand Touring *1916 Oldsmobile Model 44 Touring Car *1919 Willys-Sterns Knight Touring Car

Roaring 20s

*1921 Marmon Model 34 Speedster *1924 Ford Model T *1926 Chevrolet Woody Depot Hack

Classic era

*1927 Rolls-Royce Springfield Phantom 1 Phaeton *1928 Packard Model 533 Sedan *1928 Chrysler Model 72 Roadster *1928 Packard Phaeton *1928 Pierce Arrow Series 81 Limousine *1929 LaSalle Model 2H *1929 Pontiac Model F Cabriolet *1930 Cord Model L29 Convertible Coupe *1931 Studebaker President *1932 Duesenberg SJ Dual-Cowl Phaeton *1935 Packard Model 1208, Convertible Sedan *1936 Auburn Boat-Tail Speedster *1937 Cord Model 812 Phaeton

Celebrity cars

*1940 Cadillac Limousine V-16, owned by Al Capone, original un-restored

Indianapolis 500 cars

*1961 Trevis/Offy – Trevis team car, sister car to the 1961 winner. Ran Indy 1961–1964. *1972 Gurney Eagle/Turbo Offy – Leader card Spl. Team car. Ran Indy 1972–1974. *1979 Porsche Indy – The factory race car that smashed all track records before being banned. *1980 Penske PC-9/Cosworth DFX – Mario Andretti's Michigan 500 winner. Ran Indy. *1980, Qualified second with Mario Andretti. Also driven to victory by Rick Mears at the Copa Mexico 125. *1987 March/Buick – Rich Vogler's best Indy effort *1995 Lola/Ford XB – Michael Andretti's race winning car

Other race cars

*1996 Rilley & Scott MkIII/Ford winner of the 1997 Rolex 24 hours of Daytona *1990 Nissan 300ZX- Factory team car winner of the 24 hours of Daytona, 12 hours of Sebring and the Drivers and constructors championship *1993 Porsche RS America- Rolex 24 and Sebring 12 hour veteran, the first team car of Champion Porsche

Sprint cars: 1920s–WWII

*1932 Crager-Ford *1932 Gemsa Ford *1936 Thomas Spl. *1937 Offy 270 ci. *1937 Rutherford – winner of over 300 races! *1937 Ranger-Aircraft Engine *Drayer-Ford *Riley Four Port

Sprint cars: post WWII-1950s

*1950 Ford/Offy

Midget racers: 1930s-1950s

*1936 Sowers- a rare Offy derivative *Caruso-Offy 110 ci. supercharged by Maserati *Studebaker *Elto Outboard *Indian *(3) Ford V-8/60

Military vehicles

Source: * 1917 Vim "Camp Devens Express" * 1916 Ford Model T ambulance * 1942 Ford Jeep, GPW

Willys MB The Willys MB and the Ford GPW, both formally called the U.S. Army truck, ton, 4×4, command reconnaissance, commonly known as the Willys Jeep, Jeep, or jeep, and sometimes referred to by its List of U.S. military vehicles by supply catalog des ...

* 1943 White Motor Co. M16 half-track * M1917 6-ton tank (American version of the

Renault FT The Renault FT (frequently referred to in post-World War I literature as the FT-17, FT17, or similar) is a French light tank that was among the most revolutionary and influential tank designs in history. The FT was the first production tank to h ...

) * Panzer I. A * Panzer V "Panther" Ausf. A. only running Panther in the USA * Mercedes G4 staff car * Vickers Mk. IV light tank * Sherman turret trainer * M3 Lee * Matilda MK.II tank * Sd.Kfz. 10 1-ton – German half-track personnel carrier/prime mover * Leichter Panzerspähwagen Sd.Kfz. 222 armored scout car – Germany * BMW R75 motorcycle and side car * M3A1 scout car * M5A1 Stuart light tank * VW Kübelwagen Type 82 * Schwimmwagen Type 166 *

T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank from World War II. When introduced, its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was more powerful than many of its contemporaries, and its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, ...

/76 Tank * Sd.Kfz. 251/1 Ausf. D armored half-track * Sd.Kfz. 2 Kleines Kettenkrad "track-cycle" * LCVP "Higgins Boat" * Cromwell I tank * Jagdpanzer 38t Hetzer * M4A3E2 Sherman "Jumbo" tank * M16 MGMC half-track *

M8 Scott The 75 mm howitzer motor carriage M8 "Scott" was a self-propelled howitzer vehicle of the United States in use during World War II. It was developed on the chassis of the M5 Stuart tank and was equipped with a M116 howitzer in an M7 moun ...

* M22 Locust airborne tank *

M18 Hellcat The M18 Hellcat (officially designated the 76 mm Gun Motor Carriage M18 or M18 GMC) is a tank destroyer used by the United States Army in World War II and the Korean War. Despite being equipped with the same main gun as some variants of th ...

tank destroyer * A34 Comet *

IS-2 The IS-2 (, sometimes romanization of Russian, romanized as JS-2The series name is an abbreviation of the name Joseph Stalin (); IS-2 is a direct transliteration of the Russian abbreviation, while JS-2 is an abbreviation of the English or Germa ...

Iosef Stalin *

SU-100 The SU-100 ( Russian: самоходная установка-100, СУ-100 romanized: '' Samokhodnaya Ustanovka-''100) is a Soviet tank destroyer armed with the D-10S 100 mm anti-tank gun in a casemate superstructure. It was used extens ...

* Sd.Kfz. 8 12-ton German half-track *Kommandogerät 38 *V-1 " JB-2 Loon" * M8 Greyhound * LVT(A)-4 landing vehicle * M29C Weasel *

Daimler Dingo The Daimler scout car, known in service as the Daimler Dingo (after the Dingo, Australian wild dog), is a British light, fast four-wheel drive reconnaissance vehicle also used for liaison during the Second World War. Design and development ...

Mk1 * M3 Gun Motor Carriage *

M7 Priest The 105 mm howitzer motor carriage M7 was an American self-propelled artillery vehicle produced during World War II. It was given the service name 105 mm self propelled, Priest by the British Army, due to the pulpit-like machine gun r ...

SPH * M26A1 Pershing *

M24 Chaffee The M24 Chaffee (officially light tank M24) was an American light tank used during the later part of World War II; it was also used in post–World War II conflicts including the Korean War, and by the French in the Algerian War, War in Algeri ...

* M39 armored utility vehicle * M2A1 ''Bradley'' fighting vehicle * ZPU-23 anti-aircraft gun *

M41 Walker Bulldog The M41 Walker Bulldog, officially 76-mm gun tank M41, was an American light tank developed for armed reconnaissance purposes. It was produced by Cadillac between 1951 and 1954 and marketed successfully to the United States Army as a replaceme ...

* M48 Patton *

PT-76 The PT-76 is a Soviet Union, Soviet amphibious vehicle, amphibious light tank that was introduced in the early 1950s and soon became the standard reconnaissance tank of the Soviet Army and the other Warsaw Pact armed forces. It was widely exporte ...

amphibious tank * T-72M *

M551 Sheridan The M551 "Sheridan" AR/AAV (Reconnaissance vehicle, Armored Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle) was a light tank developed by the United States and named after General (United States), General Philip Sheridan, of American Civil War fame. It ...

* M60A1 *

T-55 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet medium tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2 ...

*MAZ-7310/

Scud A Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second and Third World countries. The term comes from the NATO reporting name attached to the m ...

-B missile launcher * ZSU-23-4 SHILKA anti-aircraft tank *

2S1 GVOZDIKA The 2S1 ''Gvozdika'' (, "Dianthus caryophyllus, Carnation") is a Soviet Self-propelled artillery, self-propelled howitzer introduced in 1972 and is in service in Russia and other countries . It is based on the MT-LBu multi-purpose chassis, mount ...

M1A1 Abrams The M1 Abrams () is a third-generation American main battle tank designed by Chrysler Defense (now General Dynamics Land Systems) and named for General Creighton Abrams. Conceived for modern armored ground warfare, it is one of the heavies ...

tank *QinetiQ TALON robot * iRobot PackBot

Trucks and farm vehicles

*1909 Peerless steam tractor *1915 Walker electric truck *1920s International Harvester *1931 Diamond T truck *1931 Chevrolet Model C cab-truck

References

External links

*
The Last Flying B-24 Bomber (Collings Foundation)
via

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{authority control Aerospace museums in Massachusetts Automobile museums in Massachusetts Educational foundations based in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Massachusetts Ellington Airport (Texas) Museums established in 1979 1979 establishments in Massachusetts