Walter E. Mooney
American model aircraft designer (1925–1990)
Walter E. Mooney (June 6, 1925 – March 1, 1990) was an MIT-educated engineer, aircraft designer, pilot and model aircraft designer who lived in San Diego, California. He was known professionally for his work in the aerospace industry on full scale aircraft efforts for the Convair division of General Dynamics, but was also a prolific designer of model aircraft, with plans and articles published in magazines including Model Airplane News, Boys' Life, Aero Modeller, and Model Builder. He was once featured as a daredevil glider pilot on the 1973 TV series Thrill Seekers. Mooney became particularly associated with Peanut Scale model aircraft, with model-aircraft writer Bill Hannan describing him as "perhaps the most prolific Peanut producer and proponent".
In 1974, Burt Raynes, chairman of Rohr Industries, assigned Mooney the job of developing an advanced light aircraft intended to compete in the general-aviation market, and particularly to compete against the Cessna 172. Mooney served as designer and project manager of the resulting Rohr Two-175. Rohr built two flying prototypes and a static-test airframe, with one prototype accumulating 23 flight hours before the project was discontinued before being put in production.
The Flying Aces model club of Washington has held a Walt Mooney Memorial model airplane meet named in his honor.
Early life and education
Born in northern California, Mooney became interested in aviation and model aircraft at an early age. After serving in the United States military during World War II, he attended college under the G.I. Bill, receiving a degree in aeronautical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7964726. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1925, 1990, 1973 and 1974.
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This entry incorporates text from “Walter E. Mooney” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.