Collings Foundation
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 in Houston, Texas, primarily housing its Korean War and Vietnam  War jet aircraft and helicopter collection. The Collings Foundation operates two touring collections of historic military aircraft: The Wings of Freedom Tour and The Vietnam Memorial Flight. The Wings of Freedom flights also provided a platform for testing a smartphone-based automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast (ADS-B), a means of future air safety technology. The Collings Foundation offered vintage warbird rides to the general public in exchange for donations until permission for such flights was revoked by the Federal Aviation Administration following the fatal 2019 crash of the foundation's B-17G. History. The organization was founded in 1979 by Robert  F. Collings and 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, 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. 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 In March 2020, the organization's permission to carry passengers was revoked by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), citing “notable maintenance discrepancies” and a failure to maintain a “a culture of safety” leading up to the crash. Collection. Automobile collection. Military vehicles. Source: