Biographical Sketches

ALBERT W MOONEY

Born: April 12, 1906    In: Denver, CO
Died: May 7, 1986    In: Dallas, TX

In 1925 Albert W Mooney was a red-haired, energetic 19-year-old who signed on as a draftsman in the newly formed Alexander Aircraft Co in Denver. A serious student of aircraft from age 12, he quickly established a reputation as an aeronautical "engineer."

Within a year he became chief engineer and had designed his first plane, the Eaglerock, a handsome three-place, open-cockpit biplane. In 1928 his design pencil put Alexander into the monoplane business with the Bullet, a sleek low-wing cabin monoplane with innovations like retractable landing gear (Mooney holds one of the four basic patents on retractable gears) and shatterproof glass.

With the nation riding the crest of an economic boom, he left Alexander in 1929 to form Mooney Aircraft Corp in Wichita. With him came his brother, Arthur, master mechanic and right-hand man, to begin production of the Mooney A-1, a four-place, low-wing monoplane of wood and fabric with a fully cantilevered wing -- a rarity in light planes at the time. Only a few A-1s were built before the company closed down in 1931 in the Depression.

Next Bellanca hired Mooney as chief engineer in charge of all commercial production, notably several variations of the Skybus and its military version, C-27. In 1935 Mooney moved along to try his hand as a consulting engineer in Washington DC but was soon enticed by a vice-presidency as chief engineer with Monocoupe Aircraft Corp in St Louis. There he developed the Dart and the twin-engine Monocoach.

In 1938 Culver Aircraft Co bought the design of the Dart, and Mooney joined them to design the popular Cadet, a fully aerobatic, single-place low-wing plane. During World War 2 the Cadet was redesigned as one of the first radio-controlled target drones and given the designation PQ-8; a later version as PQ-14 flew faster and higher. In all, 3,000 units of the PQ-8 and -14 were built by Mooney and Culver.

In 1946, partnered with C G Yankey and W L McMahon, Mooney Aircraft Inc opened shop to get in on the expected post-war aviation boom with their new M-18 Mite featuring the now famous "backward" Mooney tail and a 25hp Crosley Cobra that cruised it at 85 mph. At $1995 it was the cheapest, smallest aircraft ever built in quantity, and operators could make money renting them for as little as $5 an hour. During the next six years Mooney Aircraft produced 200 Mites but rising labor and production costs pushed the price up to $3900, and the little Mite’s major selling point was gone.

To prevent other Wichita aircraft builders from raiding his work force, Mooney moved the plant to Kerrville TX in 1953, where 50 more Mites were built, but the firm began to lose money on them and soon they were priced out of the market. The rising demand for a more comfortable airplane with greater utility outweighed the advantages of economy and spirit that had made the Mite a darling of ex-military flyers.

Two years later Mooney bounded back with the Mark-20, a four-place, 150hp grown-up version of the Mite. Retaining some of the most advanced features of its little brother, the Mark-20 won Mooney a foremost place in the ranks of aircraft designers.

After Yankey’s death in 1953 and corporate problems, he disposed of his holdings in Mooney Aircraft Inc to accept a top design post with Lockheed Martin at Marietta GA, retiring in 1967. (based on an article by Frank J Clifford, FAA Aviation News)

Denotes an individual known to have soloed an aircraft prior to December 16, 1917, whether they were members of the "Early Birds of Aviation" Organization or not.