Archives:
Friends of the Museum:
Collins Aerospace
Timeline:
Early History:
by: Arlo Goodyear
–The Collins Story
–The Collins Story
by: Ben Stearns
–Echo Hill Story
–Echo Hill Story
by: Nancy Zook
–The Iowan Magazine
–The Iowan Magazine
by: Ed Marriner
–CQ Magazine
–CQ Magazine
Our Founder:
| Museum Tours |
| Interested in a tour? click here |
| This Month in History - May |
| May 1st, 1943 –80 years ago. The first issue of Collins Column, an internal company publication, was delivered to the employees. |
| May 13th, 1937 –86 years ago. The Collins Radio Company, already incorporated in Delaware, reorganized as an Iowa corporation. |
| More about Arthur... | |
| by: Larry Tjaden | posted: December 3, 2020 |
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If you are searching for more information about our founder, Arthur Collins, take a look at the Arthur A. Collins Legacy Association’s web page.
Click HERE to give it a read. |
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| Public Inquiry | |
| by: Mike Hynek | posted: January 28, 2018 |
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The Collins Aerospace Museum is always looking for interesting artifacts to add to its collection. Is your basement presently harboring a mysterious piece of electronics, perhaps an engineering model of an early product? Did a family member ask you to store a black box saying, "Keep this - someday it may be of interest to a Museum?" If so, contact our Museum Curator, Mike Hynek with a description of your treasure. Send an email here. |
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| History behind our Museum’s 30W | |
| by: Larry Tjaden | posted: December 4, 2016 |
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In 1965, CQ Magazine published an article, set in Summer 1932, about a ham radio operator visiting Arthur Collins’ Radio Factory to, potentially, purchase a new 30W transmitter.
You probably guessed, the story is describing the provenance of our Museum’s oldest artifact - possibly one of Arthur’s first 30W sales. read the article. |
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| Collecting Stories | |
| Behind the Scene at Rockwell Collins | |
| by: Larry Tjaden | posted: July 5, 2012 |
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We have begun an effort to capture all of those interesting company-related stories that you’ve been telling each other - but haven’t written down yet.
Terry Lamb has stepped up and entered the first one. Thanks Terry! Click the link at the bottom of this story to find the stories page. If you wish, you can get started on your story by selecting "0n-line" or "Down-load a Form". If you choose on-line, you will be able to review and re-edit your input. Remember, your story will be reviewed by our editor before it will appear in the collection. Read Stories |
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| Interested in Helping? | |
| by: Larry Tjaden | posted: November 4, 2022 |
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Here are lists of missing issues for:
Collins Column - We have every issue published. Collins Signal - We got 'em all. Collins Pulse Rockwell Pride - There must be a bunch missing... Rockwell News Rockwell Vision - We think we have all five. Collins Personnel Services - We have all but October 1976. Rockwell Collins Millennium - We have the complete set. Rockwell Collins Horizons - We got 'em all. |
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| Search All Magazines... | |
| by: Larry Tjaden | posted: June 28, 2022 |
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We have added a tool for searching our Magazine collection.
Now you can search ALL issues, of MOST* magazines, from one page! Go there and give it a try. Included are: Eight publications, consisting of 476 Issues, containing around 7,025 pages. There are over 77,841 Indexing Entries to search from. * The Rockwell News is paginated differently than the others … sorry 'bout that. |
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| by: Larry | posted: June 11, 2022 |
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Good News! We're finally getting around to processing issues of Rockwell News.
This magazine is of interest to some of us younger folk, in that it was published during our early days at the company. Take a Look and read a few from "Issues". Lookup names etc. using "Search". The most popular feature of our magazine pages is the name and topic look-up tools ... which we will complete as we get time. |
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| Back in the Museum | |
| by: Larry | posted: April 10, 2019 |
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Retiree and Friend of the Museum, Larry Pinkston, has completed a special project to restore a Collins 150B Transmitter.
We have reason to believe that this unit was Arthur Collins’ prototype for the 150A/B product line. We have created a BLOG-like page to follow his progress. Read it here.  Larry Pinkston –Conservator |
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| History of the Dallas Division | |
| by: Larry Tjaden | posted: March 5, 2016 |
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Compiled by retiree, John Estill, this document presents a brief history of our Dallas Division’s beginning in 1951 - under the Collins Radio Co. and continuing to today’s operations as Collins Aerospace.
It is a large file so give it a moment to load… click to read |
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| Bond Traveled in Style | |
| by: Larry Tjaden | posted: May 13, 2015 |
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This image submitted by retiree, Gene Dooley - a frame captured from the United Artists’ movie Goldfinger.
Lawrence is thinking the VHF Comm antenna is a 37R-2. The aircraft is a Lockheed JetStar L-329. In the Fall 1959 issue of Collins Signal a $1 million contract was noted with Lockheed to outfit their new JetStar - the "first business jet aircraft". More ’cameos’ at the ArthurCollins.Org site. |
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| Collins History | |
| 1971 Film, Narrated by Rod Sterling | |
| by: Larry Tjaden | posted: April 7, 2015 |
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Recently posted by the Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI), this 20-minute film contributed by Don Stokes, is an interesting reminder of the breadth of diversification the Collins Radio Co. and Collins under Rockwell International had achieved by 1971.
Rockwell Collins employees of today will be interested in the number of products our fore-bearers built this company upon.  Don Stokes is a Dallas area film producer and member of the Dallas Film Society. |
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| Watch the film... | |
| The First Ten Years | |
| A YouTube Video by: Gary Halverson | |
| by: Larry Tjaden | posted: July 10, 2012 |
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A 22-minute overview of the first ten years of Collins Radio. Introduces Art Collins, the radio landscape of the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, then reviews five pre-war Collins transmitters.
Produced by WA9MZU (now K6GLH) in 1998 for the Collins Collectors Association Convention in Dallas as part of J.B. Jenkins’, W5EU, presentation on the early history of Collins Radio. |
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| watch the video... | |
| by: Larry | posted: April 20, 2023 |
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Steps to the Moon won the Silver Eddy Award for professional documentary at this weekend's CRIFF event. |
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| by: Larry | posted: January 2, 2023 |
| by: Larry | posted: January 2, 2023 |
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We're thinking you might enjoy a short Trivia Quiz...
Our first one features our founder, Arthur Collins, with questions pertaining to his life before, and after founding, the Collins Radio Company. |
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| by: Larry Tjaden | posted: November 1, 2020 |
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It’s time to fire up the Way Back Machine and take another trip down memory lane… Back when the Inventory Disposal Store had cool stuff for sale.
How many store locations do you remember? |
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| Click Here to reminisce a little | |
| The Beechcraft StarShip | |
| by: Larry | posted: October 10, 2019 |
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Larry Pinkston, and myself, have begun the restoration of the Museum’s StarShip Avionics System.
We have gotten past the initial power application tests - with just enough smoke to remind passers-by that Engineers are at work. At this writing, about half of the instruments are working - but are only displaying static screens. In a few months we hope to have a new artifact to show during Museum tours - maybe like the photo above. |
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| Tail Fin Art | |
| by: Larry Tjaden | posted: March 8, 2018 |
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The folks at Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA are using select dignitaries to decorate their fleet. This Boeing 787 DreamLiner notes our founder as an “American Radio Communications Pioneer”.
I placed a short article over at the AACLA site …under “News”. |
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| New Artifact | |
| "Mint Condition" 30FX | |
| by: Larry Tjaden | posted: January 25, 2018 |
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This 1934 30FX Transmitter was owned and operated by J.B. Jenkins (W5EU), retired Collins Radio Engineer from the Richardson, TX facility.
J.B. passed away on September 20, 2017 and specified that this part of his collection be gifted to the Collins Aerospace Museum by his son-in-law Mark Reel. Mike and Rod welcome the new Artifact. read more about the 30FX. |
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| 1936 Employee Roster | |
| by: Larry Tjaden | posted: January 12, 2016 |
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Arthur’s company started pretty small. Is any of your loved-ones listed here?
view the list. |
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| Young Arthur’s Ham Shack | |
| by: Larry Tjaden | posted: August 29, 2015 |
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Ever wonder who Arthur was QSOing with back in 1925 as a young amateur radio operator?
How about them QSLs on his ham shack wall? Take a look at this page where we make our best attempt to identify the owners of the Call Signs. |
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| Collins Farms Company Bulletin | |
| A Clue to Arthur’s Success | |
| by: Larry Tjaden | posted: June 11, 2015 |
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We have just uploaded a copy of the 1930 Collins Farms Company Bulletin. Excerpts from this document have appeared in Ben Stearns’ book: Arthur Collins Radio Wizard and in our anniversary publication: The First 50 Years.
Here is your chance to read the entire document. Merle Collins, and his farming company, were waaaay ahead of their time! |
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