This is from a r.a.m. post I made following a visit to Mr. Soplata's farm about two years ago:
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For those who don't know about the Soplata Farm, Mr. Soplata is a junk collector who also happens to share an affinity for airplanes. The results of his 50-years of saving airplanes from the scrap heap and smelter are resting next to his house in Newbury, Ohio, along with all the other junk he collects like cars, books and magazines, trucks, old computer and electronics, and other scrap. It is not a museum -- the airplanes are not there for display, but are the personal collection of Mr. Soplata. The airplanes are all in derelict condition -- wrecked, in pieces, and rotting away exposed to the midwest US weather. He purchased these airplanes over the years as his own hobby, and in many cases, has saved some one-of-a-kind airplanes from destruction when nobody else (especially the US military) cared about them.
Even though many see him as being a whack-o, he is certainly not. Here's more:
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Anyone who meets Mr. Soplata may get the impression that he's a doddering old man. It's true that he doesn't come across as the brightest individual, but after spending an afternoon talking with him about his hobby and his airplanes, I realize that he's really just old and eccentric. He has an amazing memory when it comes to aviation, and especially recalling specifics about his airplanes. Every airplane we'd walk up to, he'd give me a detailed history of where he got it, how much he paid for it, and even specific service histories of the airframes he had. It's very evident that he cares about his airplanes -- he does what he can to protect them from the weather by covering up cockpits and canopies, and building small shelters over some. He even talked quite a bit about how he was going to "put them all back together", which is obviously an overly ambitious project for an elderly man given the condition of some of the airplanes.
When I talked to him, he had some very strong beliefs about his airplanes. First off, he didn't want to see any of them ever fly again because of the risk of their destruction. Second, he fully intends to restore all of them....this is obviously a pipe dream, since he is in his 80s or 90s and will not let anyone help him out, but it shows that contrary to many critics he does love his airplanes and care about their survival. Last, he knows they are valuable and intends to sell them all off when he dies, with the proceeds going to support his children. Supposedly his daughter is a nun and he wants to give a sizeable chunk to the order she belongs to.
His quote to me was that all the airplanes would go up for auction "in Trade-A-Plane" after he dies. Even though the airframes have seen plenty of exposure, there are some incredible starting points for restorations out there. I'm sure eventually those airplanes will find beautiful homes both in museums and in the air someday.
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