Paul
Allen (founder & owner)
Flying Heritage Collection
Arlington Municipal Airport
Arlington, WA
Founder Paul Allen
Microsoft co-founder and Vulcan Ventures founder, Paul
Allen is currently listed as the world's 9th
richest man. This billionare is a collector of many
things, including a huge collection of Jimi Hendrix memorabilia,
displayed
at
the Experience
Music Project and Science Fiction morablilia. He also has
a collection of warbirds including
some of the rarest aircraft
in
the
world.
Aircraft Collection
His collection includes a Me-262 (ex Planes of Fame Museum), B-17E Serial Number 41-9210
and a P-51D. Currently, the entire collection is not available
for viewing by the general public. This lead to their
storage
hanger being unofficial nickname "Area 51".
Worldwide Acquisitions of Warbirds &
Restorations
Aircraft and component purchases for the collection
are made with "non-disclosure" agreements being signed
by those involved, and little or no publicized information
is available, or publicized. Some restoration work for the
collection's P-51D was done at WestPac and
aircraft relics aquired from "75 Squadron" salvaged from Papua New Guinea.
Open to the Public
In the spring of 2004, the museum was opened to the public on
a limited basis for tours limited to fifteen or less people.
Funds generated will be used for maintenance of the collection. According
to Allen in a Seatle Times interview about the new museum: "There's
an elegance to the planes. That was an era when the technology
leaped
ahead.
That was
a watershed
period."
Pacific Related Collection
Aircraft with Pacific history: