Rumors Place Owner as Walmart Heir and GameBird GB1 Owner Steuart Walton 

The infamous aviation collection acquired by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has reportedly been liquidated, sold in its entirety by his estate to the grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton. 

Allen's death almost 4 years ago had placed the extensive collection's status in doubt, held at the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum in Everett, Washington. One aviation outlet recently reported that the philanthropist's large assortment of vintage equipment has been sold off by the Allen estate, and currently being carefully crated for shipment to their new home. The aircraft are being readied for a long cross country flight, where appropriate, to make their way to Steuart Walton, co-founder of Runway Group and Game Composites. 

As far as recipients go, Walton is about as good a new owner as one could hope for. His composites business designs and builds small composite aircraft, gaining notoriety in the air race circuit for their GB1 Gamebird. Walton is a longtime aerospace nerd, pilot, and aircraft collector in his own right, and should prove to be a suitable caretaker for Paul Allen's gems. All 24 of his vintage planes, like his Spitfire, de Havilland Mosquito, IL-2 Shturmovik, Ju-87 Stuka, P-47 Thunderbolt, and WhiteKnight demonstrator should be in good hands. Currently, the sale remains a rumor, with Walton's companies keeping mum about any developments or public displays.

The Flying Heritage Museum remains in limbo, having closed "temporarily" for the duration of the pandemic. Its website says that it will re-open in the future, though such developments are doubtful without the prized assortment of WWII aircraft. Its collection of armored vehicles appears to remain, though the trustee of the Allen estate could well have buyers lined up for it, too. The pandemic was particularly hard on museums, often operating on shoestring budgets and thready attendance even in healthier times. If the museum is well and truly closed in all but name, it's a sad state of affairs, but certainly not a rare one. 

FMI: www.flyingheritage.org