Ropkey Armor Museum

A beautiful summer day, a big single roadster, and some good country roads. I was out for a day of riding on the SR500 and ended up at the Ropkey Armor Museum, east of Crawfordsville Indiana. It's one of my favorite places to visit, and I hadn't been in awhile. State Road 47 heading west of Thorntown is a fun road. I found some gnarly country roads north of 47, then headed south to 32 to get to the museum.

When I got there I parked next to a really nice '76 BMW. It's owner use to road race SR500's.


It's not just an armor museum, but has many other displays, like this Indian.

The longest serving of the X series of experimental aircraft, the X-14. I got to talk with Fred Ropkey during the visit, and was curious how he got a NASA experimental aircraft. Basically it was tossed back into the weeds, being sold as scrap years ago, after being grounded following a minor crash landing. Even NASA thought the plane was long gone.



A BSA M20.

Flat head HD.

A little bit of everything at the museum.

A rare Japanese tank captured by Marines in 1943.

Rebel's Roost.

A piece of artillery overlooking the grass airfield. This gives you a good idea of the rural setting of the museum.

Jeep.





Even a patrol boat.

UH-1 "Huey"





You don't appreciate the size of the tanks until you see them up close.

Cushman airborne scooter, designed to be air dropped.





If you ever get a chance to visit the Ropkey Armor Museum, make sure you stop in. It's a great museum run by great people.

I grabbed a late lunch afterward at the DQ at the intersection of 52 and 47.