Warbirds Online » Blog Archive » Air Zoo Receives Grumman Mallard Donation

Though it was slated to happen this past Sunday, we just caught the news…

On Sunday, May 20, a 1947 Grumman Mallard is scheduled to land at its new home at the Air Zoo and become the newest addition to the museum’s collection, thanks to the donation of Roland LaFont.

The Mallard is a large, twin-engine amphibious aircraft that was built between 1946 and 1951 and was designed for regional airline operations such as harbor-based city-to-city flights. Of the 59 Mallards produced, the aircraft that will be donated to the Air Zoo was number 14. Today, approximately 32 Mallards remain registered in the United States.

The Mallard has been a “dream plane” of LaFont, who resides in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He acquired it in 1993. When he decided to donate the plane to an aviation museum, he turned to the Internet to research museums nation-wide to find the right resting place for his aircraft.

He typed “aviation museums” in a search engine and clicked on the first entry: Air Zoo. After looking through the Air Zoo’s website, LaFont decided not to look any further—he knew had found the perfect home for his beloved plane.

“The Mallard represents a unique period in aviation history and is unlike any other aircraft in the Air Zoo’s collection,” says Bob Ellis, executive director of the Air Zoo.

“The romance of flying boats and ability to fly to exotic ports is all but lost in the hectic and completely unromantic airline transportation of today.”

The Mallard will eventually be put on display on the Air Zoo’s Main Campus.

Editors Note: The SW Aviator Magazine covered this plane in a past issue, click here to see that article with photos (photo above from SW Aviator Magazine)

There has been some discussion on the donation of this, a flyable plane, to a static museum on the Warbird Information Exchange, click here to join the discussion.

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