Walter E. Mooney was a pilot and model aircraft designer who lived in San Diego

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. He was well-known for his many plans published in the magazines Model Airplane News, Boy's Life, and Aero Modeler in the 1960s. He was once featured as a daredevil glider pilot on the 1973 TV series Thrill Seekers

Thrill Seekers

Thrill Seekers was a syndicated Four Star Television series that was produced in 1973 and 1974. It was hosted by Chuck Connors and featured people who did dangerous stunts....

. The Aero Aces model club, of Seattle

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

, Washington holds a Walt Mooney Memorial model airplane meet named in his honor. Designer of the ROHR Two-175 Experimental Aircraft almost put in production to compete against the Cessna 172

Cessna 172

The Cessna 172 Skyhawk is a four-seat, single-engine, high-wing fixed-wing aircraft. First flown in 1955 and still in production, more Cessna 172s have been built than any other aircraft.-Design and development:...

in 1971. See the WALT MOONEY designs website: http://web.mac.com/tectonite/iWeb/Site%205/Mooney.html