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Buzz Aldrin receiving 'Moon Talk'.

photo credit: Ross Bell, Executive Director of Aerospace States Association.

You can purchase DVDs and POSTERS of our documentaries. Click on the "Store" link above...

1909-1987

AACLA Mission The mission of the Arthur A. Collins Legacy Association is to collect, preserve, and interpret the legacy of Arthur Collins and the Collins Radio Company he founded.

At fifteen, Arthur maintained reliable communication - when few others could - with the 1925 McMillan expedition to northern Greenland, using radios he had designed and built, along with techniques for short wave communication he had worked out in advance with the ship’s radio operator, John Reinartz, Collins gained national recognition for his feat.

Over the next four decades Collins built a Fortune 500 Company with, at its peak, over 24,000 employees, known for its extraordinary innovation in avionics and aerospace, advanced radio communication, microwave, telecommunication, and computers.

A shy man, averse to self-promotion and rarely giving interviews or public speeches, the story of Arthur Collins and his contributions to modern technology are little-known even within the electronics industry.

The Ar

Movies on the Armstrong Building

Watch our three, Award Winning, Space Movies projected onto the Armstrong Building, Downtown, Cedar Rapids, Thursdays
May 11, 18 and 25 Starting Time 8:00 p.m.
Bring your lawn Chairs and see Neil on the Armstrong...

Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival

Eric Dean Freese - Annette Busbee - Rod Blocksome - Steve Tyson

Steps to the Moon won the Silver Eddy Award for professional documentary at this weekend's CRIFF event.

Three More Awards…

Steps to the Moon received three awards at the Iowa Motion Picture Association award event Saturday evening. Steve was on hand to receive these awards on behalf of the AACLA.

• Excellence in Documentary film-making.
We understand that we bested eight other documentaries for this top award.
• Excellence in editing long form to Eric Freese
• Excellence in voice over narration to Steven James

Collins SSB and the SAC

• Rod has authored a new story about Collins Radio Company's Single Side Band (SSB) radios and their initial testing and later application with the U.S. Air Force, Strategic Air Command (SAC).

View the document here.

Video Awards
	Our VIDEOS have been getting a lot of ATTENTION! Read this list of awards that they have collected.
View the page here.

The 90-year Saga of Our 30W
	• Rod has authored a story about the lineage of the Collins 30W Transmitter on display in the Collins Aerospace Museum. • From its beginning in Art's basement - to Shepherd, Tennessee - then back home here in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
View the story here.

Photos from Neil Armstrong's Visit
• On May 29, 1975 Neil Armstrong was invited as the keynote speaker at a Collins Management Club dinner. • A photographer recorded many of the attendees getting to meet and greet the famous moon walker. • We are asking our readers to 'give them a look' and if you spot someone you know, drop Rod a line. He has a good start of the names listed with each photo...
View the page here.

'Radio Bikini' Story
	• A Collins TCS-9 HF Transmitter that survived two atomic blasts at the Bikini Atoll, during Operation Crossroads, has been found. • It is now being prepared by our conservator, retiree, Larry Pinkston and will be loaned to the Collins Aerospace Museum for display.
View the story here.

Article in the Dallas Morning News

Teri Webster from The Dallas Morning News published an article on Richardson's connection to the Collins Radio Company and the development of the Space Communications Equipment described in "Steps to the Moon".
Click here to read the article.

Read more about Gemini
	If you enjoyed our last movie "Steps to the Moon" you may also be interested in a back story from Hugo Kann who served on the Gemini design team for the HF receiver and later, Project Engineer.
View the story here.

Opening Day at Honeysuckle Creek
March 17, 1967

- You might enjoy this video from one of our Australian cousins, and Apollo enthusiasts, Colin Mackellar.
- Colin is a regular contributor to the Friends of Honeysuckle Creek - one of NASA's tracking stations, assembled by the Collins Radio Company, during the Apollo program.
- Only a few months after these photos were taken, the equipment shown was in use on July 20th 1969 relaying voice and video from Tranquility Base on the moon.
- During this epic event, Honeysuckle Creek's antennas were in a prime position to down-link the first steps on the moon...
- BTW: The lucky staff, that day, at Honeysuckle Creek, got to watch the best "raw" quality video - while the rest of us only saw the blurry "scan converted" stuff.
- Where is this place?
Google Earth Users - search for:
Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Stn., Apollo Road, Tennent ACT, Australia
- Also: Visit their site.

View the video here.

Collins Retirees in the Dallas/Richardson area

The Rockwell Collins Retirees Association in Richardson Texas
Check out the "Collins History (1952-Today)" link on their 'About-Us' page. You will find a detailed PDF about the history of the company's building complex, in and around Richardson.

View the WEB SITE here.

Collins Aerospace Museum

Looking for more information about Arthur Collins and the Collins Radio Company?
Visit the Collins Aerospace Museum's web site.
Edited by Rod and Larry - so you know it is loaded with good stuff!

View the Site here.

The Collins Story - Connecting The Moon To The Earth documentary series is available for streaming.
Click on a movie poster to watch each film on Vimeo.

— A Culture of Innovation - click image.
— Steps to the Moon - click image.
— Moon Talk - click image.
— Live from the Moon - click image.

Or click HERE for additional Vimeo help.

This Month in History - May

May 1st, 1943
–80 years ago.
The first issue of Collins Column, an internal company publication, was delivered to the employees.

May 1st, 1933
–90 years ago.
Arthur's first QST article "Getting Acquainted With the Short Waves" is published by the ARRL.

May 5th, 1961
–62 years ago.
A Mercury-Redstone 3 (Freedom 7), with Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr., launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The suborbital flight lasted 15 minutes, 28 seconds.

May 13th, 1937
–86 years ago.
The Collins Radio Company, already incorporated in Delaware, reorganized as an Iowa corporation.

May 15th, 1963
–60 years ago.
A Mercury-Atlas 9 (Faith 7) with Astronaut, L. Gordon Cooper, Jr, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This twenty-two-orbit flight lasted 34 hours, 19 minutes, 49 seconds. Faith 7 was the last Mercury mission.

May 24th, 1962
–61 years ago.
A Mercury-Atlas 7 (Aurora 7) with Astronaut, M. Scott Carpenter, launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This multi-orbit flight lasted 4 hours, 56 minutes, 5 seconds - a duplicate of Glenn's flight.

FY22 Annual Report

Our annual report Has been released.

View the Document here.

What's New ?

Latest additions to the AACLA web site
• A Christmas Card drawn by Michael's Mother, Peg, back in 1954.
• A STORY about Arthur's world tours demonstrating his SSB radios to the U.S. Air Force SAC.
• A List of our Documentaries' AWARDS.
• The HISTORY of our Museum's 30W Transmitter.
• Neil Armstrong's 1975 VISIT with Collins Employees.
• A new page to highlight AACLA and local STEM Programs.
• An article, by Hugo Kann, about the Gemini

1937 Collins Stock

From Creation to Consolidation - View the share certificates of Arthur’s Iowa-based corporation.

View the page here.