Dates

• Existence: 1880 March 7 - 1929 January 12
• Usage: 1880 - 1929

Biographical Note

Terah Maroney was an early pilot who gave William E. Boeing his first flight.

Terah Thomas "T.T." Maroney was born in Tennessee on March 7, 1880. He worked for a time as a carpenter and as a mechanic in Alabama and then moved to Montana. While living there he learned to fly on Curtiss pusher planes, making his first flight on July 6, 1911. He earned his pilot's license in 1912. He then earned his living by performing in aerial shows, providing rides to paying customers and giving flying lessons. In 1914 the city of Everett, Washington hired Maroney to fly in an aerial show over the waterfront at the annual Kla-How-Yah festival.

Though accounts vary and the exact date is questionable, likely in 1915 Maroney gave a seaplane ride to William E. Boeing (his first airplane ride) and George C. Westervelt. Seeing the simplicity of Maroney's likely homebuilt airplane, Boeing surmised that he and Westervelt could build a better one.

Maroney later lived in Seattle, Louisiana, Utah, and Washington, D.C., among other places T. T. Maroney died January 12, 1929 in East St. Louis, Illinois after being struck in the head by an airplane propeller.

Sources: "Boeing founder’s first flight pilot: Terah T. Maroney," HeraldNet. https://www.heraldnet.com/2014/07/02/boeing-founders-first-flight-pilot-terah-t-maroney/ Accessed May 8, 2026. "Terah Maroney," Early Birds of Aviation. https://earlyaviators.com/emaroney.htm Accessed May 8, 2026.

Citation:

http://www.helenahistory.org/Terah-Maroney.htm

Gender

• male

Occupations

• Air pilots

Places

• Tennessee (Place of Birth)
• Illinois (Place of Death)
• Montana (Residence)
• Washington (State) (Residence)

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