The story of an
eccentric farmer's amazing collection of aircraft and other mechanical
artifacts, and how, ultimately, he was responsible for so much being preserved
for succeeding generations.....
Anyone
who spends any time at all in the North American war bird community will
eventually hear the
name "Ernie Simmons. So many of today's restored antique aircraft.......Lysanders,
Fairey Swordfish, and especially Yales (known as BT-9's in the U.S.) ...or at
least parts of them.....seem to have come from "The Simmons
Collection". And not just aircraft. Every second antique car, motorcycle,
tractor or steam engine...even military ground vehicles seem to trace their
lineage back to here.
Stories of eccentricities
and quirks that would make Hollywood proud have grown ever more legendary as the
years pass.
So how did these vehicles
avoid the cutter's torches, and who was Ernie Simmons?
