Champlin Museum in AZ -- Take Two

[Amy]

When the Forum crashed, this original thread when went with it.

I asked if the Champlin Museum was still going to move to Seattle. Apparently it is.

If one wanted to visit the museum in Arizona, I guess they should go visit within the next three years. Is that correct?

Thanks.

Amy,

Sorry can't answer those questions, but if anyone gets the chance to go to Tempe before it moves, it is well worth it. I was lucky enough to go down there a couple of years ago now and tour Arizona from top to bottom. At the Champlin museum there is a bunch of WWI aircraft and my wife and I ended up having a several hours long chat with an ex-Hellcat pilot from WWII and Korea who was a tour guide. He was a really lovely bloke. Next door is the CAF, again we ended up chatting for several hours, to a Colonel Hatch, once he heard my accent, he told us both of when he was stationed on the same base as 2 Sqn RAAF during Vietnam. I had a wonderful time at both those museums, wonderful exhibits and wonderful people. I loved Arizona too. Again wonderful landscape and wonderful people. If my wife wasnt so shy of the Sonora's sun we'd be living on that coast ;)

Anyway thumbs up from this Aussie traveller.




cam

A hearty ditto from me, and thanks once again to Barrett for squiring a handful of Forum-ites around the Champlin a coupla years ago. I too find Arizona an awe-inspiring place, though I'm more enamoured of the northern bits -- painted desert, Route 66, Meteor Crater, and etc.

[Amy]

Thanks for replies guy. I'm seriously planning a road trip to AZ just to see the museum. Sounds like it'll definitely be worth the visit.

[Lufbery]

Does anyone know what's going to happen to the planes?

[Barrett]

Another Forumite Rendezvous at CFM is definitely mandated before the collection goes north. That'll be at least two, maybe three, years.
Doug sold the entire collection (less the FW-190D) to the Seattle Museum of Flight. Contrary to rumor, Paul Allen has nothing to do with it; SMF is separate though it has ties with Boeing. Allen has his own aviation collection in addition to 7 or 8 other museums.
The CFM WW I hangar contains:

Albatros D-V reproduction
Fokker E-III reproduction
Fokker Dr.I semi-reproduction
Fokker D-VII reproduction
Fokker DVIII "repliduction"
Etrich Taube reproduction
Aviatik (Berg) D.I original
Pfalz D-XII original

Nieuport 27 reproduction
Nieuport 28 original/repro (unsure of percentages)
SPAD XIII reproduction
Sopwith Pup reproduction
Sopwith Tripe reproduction
Sopwith Camel replica
Sopwith Snipe "replicduction"
SE-5 reproduction

reproduction: factory-authentic w/engine, instruments, guns
"repliduction": authentic airframe, modern engine
replica: cosmetic look-alike

Other items of interest: Luke/Wehner display w/wings, medals, mementos; Hamilton Coolidge SPAD fabric, etc.; MvR and Bishop signatures. (The latter is in a book about the Great War signed by "The hand that downed a hundred Huns." Ahem.)

[Albatroid]

Hello Amy-

The Seattle Museum of Flight will no doubt give those aircraft the showcase and care they deserve. I don't know the exact timeline on their delivery but last I read it was autumn 2003 at the earliest. As a former resident of Arizona and frequent Champlin Museum open-to-close visitor, I would heartily recommend you go see it as soon as possible. In addition to the fantastic collection WW1 aircraft, they also have a comprehensive collection aircraft armament from WW1 & 2 in the center gallery of the building. A vast collection of framed pilot photos- many autographed- and a week's worth of posted reading material also awaits you. Yes, the aircraft will go to Seattle, but it seems there's no guarantee that the rest of the cool stuff will accompany them.

[Amy]

Gosh, what you guys have written make me want to leave for the museum NOW!

;D