Paul Allen’s Flying Heritage Collection reportedly sold to aviation enthusiast in the Walton family. Air Current magazine reported late last week that the museum’s entire collection was sold “in its entirety.”
“Many of the projects are being crated for shipment to their new home while the flying aircraft are being readied for cross-country trips,” the Air Current magazine said. “One man’s dream has come to an end, but another man’s dream has just begun.”
scramble.nl
The collection’s new owner is Steuart Walton, the grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton, according to Scramble, a publication of the Dutch Aviation Society. Walton is the co-founder of Runway Group, a holding company with investments in northwest Arkansas; and the co-founder and chairman of Game Composites, a company that designs and builds small composite aircraft.
Since Paul Allen, cofounder of Microsoft, died on 15 October 2018 the future of his Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum (FHCAM) in Everett (WA) has been uncertain. Initially the museum and restoration center remained open and restoration projects went on, sometimes at a slower pace. But this changed in May 2020 when it suddenly and indefinitely closed stating that the then-still-young COVID-19 crisis was to blame.
FHCAM houses some very rare gems, like a DH98 Mosquito, an Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik, a ‘long nose’ Focke Wulf Fw-190D-13 and a Junkers Ju-87 Stuka.
