Edward T. Maloney (May 21, 1928 – August 19, 2016) was an American
aviation
Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...
historian based in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...
.
He assembled much of the collection of historic airframes displayed at the
Planes of Fame Museum
Planes of Fame Air Museum is an aviation museum at Chino Airport in Chino, California.
History
The Air Museum was founded by Edward T. Maloney on January 12, 1957, in Claremont, California, to save historically important aircraft. at
Chino Airport
Chino Airport is a county-owned airport about three miles southeast of Chino, in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The Federal Aviation Administration's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2007–2011 classified it ...
,
Chino, California
Chino ( ; Spanish for "Curly") is a city in the western end of San Bernardino County, California, United States, with Los Angeles County to its west and Orange County to its south in the Southern California region.
Chino's surroundings ha ...
.
Maloney believed that today's scrap is tomorrow's history, and in 1946 began collecting odd airframes for a future museum. His first item was reportedly a
Mitsubishi J8M
The Mitsubishi J8M ''Shūsui'' (Japanese: 三菱 J8M 秋水, literally "Autumn Water", used as a poetic term meaning "Sharp Sword", deriving from the swishing sound of a sword) is a Japanese World War II rocket-powered interceptor aircraft close ...
rocket-powered interceptor.
Maloney opened his first
aviation museum
An aviation museum, air museum, or air and space museum is a museum exhibiting the history and cultural artifacts, artifacts of aviation. In addition to actual, replica or accurate reproduction aircraft, exhibits can include photographs, maps, Ph ...
at
Claremont, California
Claremont () is a suburban city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of Los Angeles. It lies in the Pomona Valley at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census it had ...
, on January 12, 1957, and then moved to
LA/Ontario International Airport
Ontario International Airport is an international airport east of downtown Ontario, in San Bernardino County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino. It is owned and operated und ...
,
Ontario, California
Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, it lies ...
, in the 1960s. His collection included several military aircraft including a rare
P-26 Peashooter
The Boeing P-26 "Peashooter" is the first American production all-metal fighter aircraft and the first pursuit monoplane to enter squadron service with the United States Army Air Corps. Designed and built by Boeing, the prototype first flew in 1 ...
, a
P-51
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed by James H. Kin ...
A, a
Hanriot HD.1, a
Heinkel He 162
Heinkel Flugzeugwerke () was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight, wit ...
, the
Northrop N9M
The Northrop N-9M was an approximately one-third scale, span flying wing aircraft used for the development of the full size, wingspan Northrop XB-35 and YB-35 flying wing long-range, heavy bomber. First flown in 1942, the N-9M (M for Model) wa ...
flying wing testbed, the nose section of a
B-36 Peacemaker
The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" is a strategic bomber built by Convair and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 is the largest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft ever built, although it was exceeded in span ...
bomber. It also includes the last
B-17 Flying Fortress
The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...
bomber in
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
operation, the drone-director ''
Piccadilly Lilly II
''Piccadilly Lilly II'' is a B-17 Flying Fortress currently on display at the Planes of Fame air museum in Chino, California. Built in 1945 as a B-17G and assigned serial number 44-83684, this plane was possibly the last aircraft assigned to the ...
'' (44-83684). This B-17 starred in the ''
12 O'Clock High
''Twelve O'Clock High'' is a 1949 American war film directed by Henry King (director), Henry King and based on the novel of the same name by Sy Bartlett and Beirne Lay Jr. It stars Gregory Peck as Brig. General Frank Savage. Hugh Marlowe, Gary ...
'' television series from 1964 to 1966. Interactive displays included a vintage
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
gunnery training machine.
In 1969, Maloney was forced to move his collection from the Ontario Airport hangar, and chose its present location at Chino Airport. Maloney remained active in the preservation of aviation history until he died from colon cancer on August 19, 2016, aged 88.
"PLANES OF FAME - Home". Accessed 22 August 2016
References
;Bibliography
* Edward T. Maloney and Frank Ryan. ''P-26, History of the Famous Boeing P-26 Peashooter''. Challenge Publications, 1965.
* Edward T. Maloney and Frank Ryan. ''Me-262 The Story of the German Air Weapon That Almost Changed the Course of the War...'' Challenge Publications, 1965.
* Kamikaze (1966) Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers Inc.
* Aeronautical Staff of Aero Publishers, Edward T. Maloney and Uwe Feist. ''Heinkel He 162 "Volksjäger", Aero Series 4''. Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, 1965. .
* Aeronautical Staff of Aero Publishers, Edward T. Maloney and Uwe Feist. ''Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, Aero Series 6''. Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, 1966. .
* Aeronautical Staff of Aero Publishers, Edward T. Maloney and Uwe Feist. ''Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka", Aero Series 8''. Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, 1966. .
* Heinz J. Nowarra and Edward T. Maloney. ''Dornier Do 335 "Pfeil", Aero series 9''. Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, 1966. .
* Aeronautical Staff of Aero Publishers, Edward T. Maloney and Uwe Feist. ''Supermarine Spitfire, Aero Series 10''. Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, 1966. .
* Edward T. Maloney and Uwe Feist. ''Chance Vought F4U Corsair, Aero Series 11''. Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, 1967. .
* Edward T. Maloney and Uwe Feist. ''North American P-51 Mustang, Aero Series 15''. Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, 1967. .
* Edward T. Maloney, Uwe Feist and Ronald Ferndock. ''Messerschmitt 163 "Komet", Aero Series 17''. Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, 1968. .
* Edward T. Maloney. ''Lockheed P-38 "Lightning", Aero Series 19''. Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, 1968. .
* Edward T. Maloney. ''Grumman F8F Bearcat, Aero Series 20''. Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, 1969. .
* Edward T. Maloney. ''Northrop Flying Wings''. Buena Park, CA: Planes Of Fame Publishers, 1975. .
* Edward T. Maloney. ''The Messerschmitt Me-262''. Corona del Mar, CA: World War II Publications, 1980. .
* Edward T. Maloney and Thomas E. Doll. ''Chance Vought F4U Corsair, Aero Series 11, second revised edition''. Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, 1985. .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maloney, Edward T.
1928 births
2016 deaths
American historians
American curators