Ed Maloney RIP

[JohnH]

Ed Maloney a pioneer in the Warbird movement and founder of Planes of Fame passed away yesterday of colon cancer. Sad news , he was a good friend.

[sandiego89]

A huge force in the movement. All the best to the family and friends.

[Neal Nurmi]

I'm sorry to hear this. I always enjoyed being around Ed -- he was a really nice presence above and beyond the many airplanes he saved for us to enjoy. I will miss his smile.

Blue skies and tailwinds, Ed.

[Matt Gunsch]

Sad news, But he is now flying with his son Jim. So many one of kind planes survived because of his foresight.

[JohnB]

One of the great aviation preservationists.
His museum is one of our greatest aviation collections, he had the foresight to save a.c. when no one else did.

RIP.

[Chris Brame]

R.I.P. Mr. Maloney.

(Chino, 2007)

[Jerry O'Neill]

A great man and a visionary when almost nobody was. We all owe him a debt of gratitude.
Godspeed Ed.

[airnutz]

Quite the legend, he started collecting Warbirds back when you probably could count private serial collectors on one hand.
Happy Trails and Tailwinds Mr. Maloney! I'll hoist one to ya' tonight.

[Pogo]

Here's another one hoisted to Mr. Maloney Clear skies and tailwinds to you, sir!

[mrp]

Planes of Fame is a family based operation, the passing of the founder is a significant and sad moment for the organization and certainly my thoughts are with Karen and her family.
Ed was an enthusiasiast to the end. One of my favourite moments was a few years ago after the airshow at Chino, as the sun set taking pictures on the ramp with Ed after another successful show . Taking pictures of aircraft he saved and shared with the public almost semed surreal. I know a couple of other forum members were there and probably thought the same.

A true pioneer on many levels, without his vision and determination , non of his legacy would exist.

[DamonE]

I had the pleasure of meeting Ed in December 2015 for the A6M Zero Living History Flying Day. It was great to finally meet him . I know that he formed the Air Museum in 1957 and had my fingers crossed that he would see the anniversary next year. I didn't ask any personal questions at the the time, but since 8 years old I had known about the museum and always been a fan and wanted to meet him. I got the feeling that he had wished he had saved more WW II aircraft than he did.
We talked a little about the ex RNZAF SBD Dauntless that Planes of Fame have and I gave him a book about the RNZAF 25 Squadron and that my relation has flown 25 SQN SBD's during the war and being killed on operations on a mission at Rabaul . Ed thought of re-painting the PoF SBD back in its RNZAF colors ,or at least one side , may be an option in the for the future ..

I was humbled to meet such a person and wished I had more time to talk with him then. Thank you Ed.

Damon.

[old iron]

The public-sector equivalent of Paul Garber.

[Pat Carry]

Godspeed Ed

[marine air]

I think he may be #1 on the list of greats. He was a "Buy and Hold" investor when there was no investment value. He collected and kept airplanes like the P-51 and Corsair when he could've made a quick buck selling them to countries that used them in their air forces. He collected airplanes that had no spare parts or were so obscure it would be decades before anyone thought they were cool. He preserved types that were worth far more for their scrap metal value or parted out than as a whole. He was able to see their future worth and value . The Warren Buffett of old scrap airplanes. I don't think there's anything he bought that hasn't increased dramatically in value. Very few losses. His son Jim in the Pt-22, Art Vance in the Hellcat, the F4U-1 racer, and the O-47. Too many losses but overall a very safe operation.
Thank you Mr. Maloney.

[Lynn Allen]

Blue skies Mr. Maloney...