Stowed away

STOW - There is one sign, nailed to a tree, that says, "No Trespassing." Other than that, there's not even a mailbox to reveal that the tree-lined driveway off the one-lane country road leads to one of the world's foremost private collections of vintage aircraft and automobiles.

In short, there's nothing to alert a casual passerby to the presence of the Collings Foundation, its 65 historic cars and trucks, 10 aircraft in an enormous hangar, private airstrip, or the busy corporate headquarters of the Wings of Freedom program - perhaps the most popular attraction on the US air-show circuit. And that's by design.

Bob Collings, a 69-year-old entrepreneur and aviation buff, established the foundation in 1979 to preserve flying versions of World War II aircraft. He, wife Caroline, and son Rob have spent as much time polishing the foundation's image as a low-profile neighbor in tiny Stow (population 6,218) as they have burnishing the 1944 Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber that many consider the best-restored aircraft of its type in existence.

A successful businessman (he made a fortune manufacturing the first stand-alone electronic cash register in the early 1970s), Collings established the foundation by drawing on his personal wealth. Now it is supported by donations and fees for aircraft appearances and rides - a spin in a B-17 costs $400 - and has an annual budget of about $4 million. There is no estimate of the value of the collection, foundation officials said, but it is likely in the nine-figure range. In 2004, for example, a classic Duesenberg auto, similar to one owned by the Collings Foundation, sold at auction for $4.5 million.

In past years, as the New England air show season began in September, the Stow headquarters of the nonprofit, educational foundation remained quiet and practically anonymous. Meanwhile, the foundation's star attractions - three World War II bombers fully restored to flying condition - served as the featured attractions at shows across the region, including in New Bedford, Plymouth, and Beverly.

In fact, the family has opened the 70-acre facility to the public just once each year, for an open house on Father's Day weekend. But in a sign that the foundation is carefully raising its low profile, it has added a second public event in Stow, a Living History Weekend, to be held on Oct. 6 and 7.

The event will feature live demonstrations of several pieces of World War II-era equipment, including a Fieseler Storch ("Stork"), a German-made observation plane that can take off and land on runways barely twice as long as the aircraft itself; a fully-restored US M-16 half-track vehicle mounted with antiaircraft guns; and an example of the German 88-millimeter cannon that was the bane of Allied soldiers and flyers during the war. There will also be seminars and history sessions with World War II veterans and reenactors in period uniforms, and rides in a Stearman PT-17 biplane and such classic cars as a Ford Model T.

"We like to promote the idea of people being able to participate in history, seeing it, touching it, feeling it," said Collings. "We thought we could do a little more with our facility here."

The war in Iraq has added another element to the foundation's mission of preserving history: providing moral support for military families. When people hear about the challenges faced by US bomber crews in World War II, which had a very high casualty rate, they feel better about their own sacrifices, said Rob Collings, 33, who is the foundation's chief pilot.

So far, any fatigue with the Iraq war has not affected interest in the foundation or its aircraft, and the family expects a healthy crowd at the history weekend next month.

"Our demographic of people coming out to see World War II airplanes is not [Iraq war protester] Cindy Sheehan," Rob Collings said. "We're not there to make it a political statement. We are not there to support the war in Iraq or be against the war in Iraq."

To those who will see the collection for the first time next month, it will be hard to believe that it has not garnered more publicity. The cars include a 1940 16-cylinder Cadillac once owned by Al Capone, two Stanley Steamers, and early automobiles dating back to the turn of the century, including a 101-year-old electric car.

The aircraft include a working 1909 Bleriot XI that is believed to have once been flown by Harriet Quimby, the first licensed female pilot in the United States. Quimby died in 1912 at an early air show in Boston. She was flying a Bleriot over Dorchester Bay when the plane dove and rolled suddenly, ejecting her and a local journalist. Both fell to their deaths. The plane, however, righted itself and landed softly in nearby mudflats.

Quimby's death was not in vain, said Rob Collings. "After that, there was a big push to put seat belts in aircraft," he said.

In order to avoid ruffling neighborhood feathers, the Collings family will limit flights by the Bleriot and other noisy aircraft in and out of the Stow airfield. They base their historic bombers (a B-17 Flying Fortress, a B-25 Mitchell, and the only flying B-24 Liberator in the world) in Florida, and they keep their more recently acquired Vietnam-era jets (an F-4 Phantom and a TA-4J Skyhawk) in Texas.

Locals say the family is as appreciated for what they do in the town as for what they avoid doing.

The foundation sponsors or participates in as many as 30 local events each year, benefiting causes as diverse as breast cancer research, Boy Scouts, elementary education, and the environment. Those events include hosting an annual ball at their facility to benefit the Stow Conservation Trust.

"In general, they are viewed quite favorably around here - they've been very generous," said Stephen Dungna, chairman of the Stow Board of Selectmen.

Dungan said he didn't think that there would be much fallout from the decision to hold a second public event at the Stow facility - although he said he personally can't imagine why the couple, who live in a house on the property, would want to give up any more of their privacy.

"That is a personal decision for Mr. and Mrs. Collings to make," Dungan said. "Suffice it to say that they have a very beautiful piece of property and that they have done a very good job of sharing it with the people around them."

Kathi Tarbi, whose house abuts the Collings property, said that there is little ill will among the immediate neighbors.

"They're nice enough," she said. "They seem very well-liked."

As far as the future goes, Rob Collings said there are no plans for any major expansion of the Stow facility's public role in the near future. With the foundation participating in as many as 130 air shows each year in the United States and abroad, there just isn't time to do a lot more, he said.

"We'll see how the October one goes. Two [events] is quite a lot with what we have going on," he said.