The Champlin Fighter Museum is home to one of the finest collections of historic fighter planes found anywhere in the world. The museum showcases 28 restored World War I and World War II aircraft from several countries, including Germany, Russia and Japan.

The internationally known Champlin Fighter Collection is divided into two galleries: World War I and World War II. The galleries are comprised of 16 World War I fighter aircraft and 8 World War II fighter aircraft as well as 2 jet-age fighters from the Korean and Vietnam eras. The collection includes famous fighters such as the Spitfire, P-38 Lightning and Sopwith Camel, as well as the less renowned, but extremely rare, Soviet Yak. Additionally, the Museum has on display personal artifacts and fragile items like documents, uniforms, letters and vintage photos.

Founded by Doug Champlin, the 65,000-square-foot museum opened in 1980 at historic Falcon Field, Mesa, Arizona. Housed in two hangars that once accommodated the Royal Air Force training facility at Falcon, the museum is one of the most significant collections of fighter aircraft in the United States.

During a guided tour, I heard stories about a North American F-86 Sabre, 1943 Curtiss P-40N Flying Tiger, and 1944 Focke Wulf 190D-12, the rarest plane in the museum. The latter was said to have been captured at the German aircraft facility by Americans. The first plane to make a landing on an aircraft carrier, a 1916 Sopwith Pup, is included in the World War I collection.

Some of the vintage planes are original, while others are replicas or reproductions. What makes the Champlin Collection unique to other collections is that all the planes are flyable. The museum also includes a weapons collection and a continuous film show in the enclosed middle section between the two hangers.

The Seattle Museum of Flight bought most of the Champlin Fighter Museum in 2000, reportedly for somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million and then moved the collection to Seattle, closing the Mesa museum in 2003.