August 24, 2005
Ropkey Armor Museum:
After trying to find this museum in Indianapolis, it turns out that it has moved
away from the city, some 50 miles NorthWest, near Crawfordsville, IN.
The easiest way to get there:
Interstate 74; either way, exit on HWY 32 and head EAST, for about 1/4 mile.
Make a (L) turn onto 550 EAST road.
Head (N) on 550E for about one mile until you come to a "T" intersection.
This will be 150N road.
Make a (R) turn here, and on the first driveway on your (R) is the entrance
to the museum.. It is a white fence, there will be a house on your left, keep
driving on the gravel road, and follow it for a very short distance to the museum
installations. You'll see a 105mm howitzer on your (L) and a modified M-47 or
M-48 tank (I always confuse the two of them) on your (R).
What can I say about the museum, and the people there?
They received me with a HOWDY! and from then on, everything was smooth and nice.
Skip is the name of the guy who so nicely talked with me for almost two hours,
while showing me the pride and joy of the collection.
This collection belongs to a retired USMC tanker, a Korean War Veteran, Mr.
Ropkey.
The aircraft that they used to have at the older museum, are now scattered all
around Indianapolis, and there are none at the museum.
Mr. Ropkey's son, Ricky, owns several aircraft:
Cessna O-2
Boeing PT-17
Antonov An-2 (Polish built - Mielec??)
Also, they have an A-4 and a UH-1B.
The A-4 according to Skip, has an interesting story. It was donated to a school
near Indianapolis, by one of the A-4 designers (could it have been Mr. Heinemann?)
who had attended school with a guy who was now a teacher at this Indy school. The
teacher was looking for an airplane for the school, and mentioned this in passing
to his buddy, and a couple of weeks later, a semi shows at the school with an A-4.
Seems that this was one of the very first A-4s, either a test plane, or one of the
very first produced.
In any case, the A-4 is now disassembled, and stored somewhere near Indianapolis.
They are also looking to obtain a set of main rotor blades for the UH-1B they own.
The Armor:
I can say that I like armor, although my passion is of course, aircraft.
The collection is impressive, although the space they have is limited, and
photography is difficult, not only because of the reduced space between vehicles,
but also because of lighting inside.
According to Skip, they are concentrating on American armor, and the Sturmgeschutz
(sp?) they used to have in their collection, is long gone.
Long gone are also a couple of Marmon-Herrington tanks, pre-WWII, that came of all
places, from Guatemala.
They have a couple of Stuart light tanks, one of which came from Brazil, and it is
a nice, well restored machine.
There are at least three variants of the Sherman, different cannons, 75, 105 and a
high velocity 75.
There is of course, an example of one of my favorite WW-II vehicles: The Priest.
Other armor includes an M-114, a Cadillac I-DONT-KNOW-WHAT-IT-WAS, and an ONTOS
without the RRs.
There is also an M-42 Duster, a 155mm SP, M-47s, M-48, and several others that I
cannot recall (dang with this limited RAM I have!); they have a command car, a
couple of Jeeps (or 1/4 ton vehicles if you prefer), motorcycles, machine guns,
radios, and assorted engines and components; they also have a PBR boat from the
Viet-Nam era, completely restored, and a couple of my favorites, the Half-tracks,
and also an M-8 Greyhound. There is also a Type 97 Japanese tank, captured by the USMC
in 1943 somewhere in the PTO.
Outside, there are a few pieces of artillery (37mm anti-tank, a Coastal or
garrison gun, a 40mm AAA, and at least two sheds and a similar number of GP tents
with other military vehicles in them (forklifts, tractors, tows, as well as trucks
on several configurations).
Admission is free, but donations are accepted.
You want to talk armor? Talk to Skip. The same way that you and I discuss a WW-II
bomber or fighter, he will discuss tracks and weaponry on his tanks. Yes, he works
there, but these are like his babies. Interesting stories about where, how and how
much fun it has been to locate, purchase and move these beasts, ask Skip.
I shot 50 pictures here, but I am only going to upload three here.
General Information:
They are working on a web-site:
Ropkeyarmormuseum.org
e-mail:
ropkeylani@comcast.net
The Ropkey Armor Museum:
5649 E. 150N
Crawfordsville, IN 47933
(765) 794 - 0238
(317) 295 - 9295
These have been photo-shopped in order to add light to the photos.
Saludos,
Tulio