POINT MUGU : Group Raises Money for Missile Museum

A group of missile buffs is raising money to build a historical museum of guided missiles on Navy-owned land near the Pacific Missile Test Center at Point Mugu, the group’s president said Monday.

The Missile Technology Historical Assn. hopes to raise $260,000 from defense contractors to build the museum for missiles, blueprints and other artifacts stored at the test center, association President Bill Cunneen said.

The collection ranges from the shell of a recent $1.2-million Tomahawk anti-ship missile to an original 1940s-vintage Loon test missile, which Ford Motor Co. modeled after the dreaded “buzz-bombs” built by the Nazis, Cunneen said. The collection also includes target drones like the BQM-34, a pilotless, radio-controlled aircraft that is launched to provide a moving target for missile tests, said Cunneen, a former vice commander of the test center.

The association plans to hold an open house May 9 at the test center for defense contractors, such as General Dynamics and Hughes Aircraft, to solicit donations for the museum’s construction, Cunneen said.

On May 8 at the Harbortown Marina Resort in Ventura, the 11-year-old association plans to induct 13 scientists and engineers into the Guided Missile Hall of Fame. Each was instrumental in the development of guided missiles for the U. S. military, Cunneen said.

The inductees include Ralph A. Lamm of Camarillo, who has helped the military develop about 15 missile systems from the late 1930s to the late 1970s.

They also include retired Navy Capt. Robert Truax of Los Gatos, who runs a private rocket-launching company and backed motorcycle showman Evel Knievel’s failed attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon in Idaho aboard a steam-rocket motorcycle.