Peter,
there were no engines stored at Mooney last year, so I’d think they got them new off TCM. Likewise for the Avionics.
What I understood from inside Mooney is that the time was spent now to restart the production line as well as to acquire tools and equipment of former third party producers, as they wish to now produce the whole airplane in house as much as possible. They will now complete the airframes which had been stored on the production line and kept in a condition to be able to restart by the dedicated people who were there in the last 5 years, at the same time, new airplanes will be started as the positions in the line become available.
Alexis,
If I bought a new Mooney now – would I rather buy one that’s been sitting there unfinished for four years, or buy one that’s built 2014 – by apprentices and car mechanics training on the job?
There are about 55 people working at Mooney now, most of whom have worked there before and came back the moment the call came. There may well be some new people, should be actually, but to qualify them as apprentices and car mechanics?? Please. I’d expect better of a journalist of your experience. New people wil be trained by those there to the standards Mooney has been keeping all those years. Maybe you should really watch Mitch Latting’s movie after it comes out to see what kind of people work there.
On their website, www.mooney.com within their “top 10 reasons to buy a Mooney”, power and speed appear to be their USP’s, all the other drivel is just that, drivel.
As I’ve said earlier in this thread, who is going to part with circa £600k for an extra 20 knots, to sit in a confined space for 7+hours when an airline could get you there in half the time, at a fraction of the price and in considerably greater comfort?
The logic gates are flapping!
“…when an airline could get you there in half the time, at a fraction of the price and in considerably greater comfort?” I guess that goes for any of the aircraft the forumreaders fly. Personally, I fly for fun not because it saves me time and/or money. Because flying a private plane does neither.
I guess that goes for any of the aircraft the forumreaders fly. Personally, I fly for fun not because it saves me time and/or money. Because flying a private plane does neither.
Agreed. And that’s exactly my point. The majority of us fly for fun too, with a small minority flying for “some” business trips. The “shorter” business trips, of say, less than 500 miles, can probably be flown privately more quickly, and therefore more efficiently, than an airline (by the time you arrive 2 hours before a flight, check in, go through the whole carry on of security, duty free, wait for bags at the other end, transport to destination etc. etc)
As I’ve said before, the Mooney is a niche product, offering long range travel, at higher speed than any other SEP and there simply isn’t the demand for it. Very very few people will want to fly 7+ hours in a cramped aircraft for “fun”. if we had a poll, how many people would want to on here? Not many, if any, I’d guess. There is no business case that I can see which would justify spending £600k on a SEP without BRS for travelling 1500+ miles?
By the time you look at the competition (we’ve covered this 100 times in this thread already), there are significantly cheaper aircraft which offer almost as much (in some cases more) than Mooney do.
My prediction is in 18 – 24 months, the board at Mooney will be scratching their heads thinking what went wrong, as they close the doors for the last time.
I just wonder from what returns they want to pay 55(!) employees…
MooneyDriver,
maybe my “experience” is what made me write what I wrote. I was there when Cessna re-started the Skyhawk and 182 production, and I saw the products that came out of that factory. Many of the first new 172s looked like corrugated sheet metal and the quality of the paint was terrible, and they had many quality problems. Okay, their production had rested for much longer, but I guess you don’t want to tell me that it’s not a problem to get new staff trained to the same level experienced but now gone specialists had. There’s many reports available about what type of people were hired by Cessna back then. And it’s not easy to find qualified Airplane builders and mechanics in Kerrville, TX… in case you haven’t been there.
Ah, well. I fly a ‘87 M20K 252 and have flown non-stop to many destinations in Europe together with friend(s) and/or my dad. From my home base in Holland to San Sebastian for instance, then continued on to Malaga to enjoy a nice paella the same evening… All in one relaxed day, in my own time, without having to get up early. The thought that one can do that is just fun and inspiring to me and rewarding on its own (doesn’t burn AVGAS either…). The freedom to cross Europe in a day if you feel so inclined gives me a kick, like the kick I got getting my driverslicence: freedom. I love that it’s frugal and fast, I love the sound the six cilinders make when I’m turning of the runway at idle, I love the way you slide in an strap it on, I love the fact that – if I want to – I can firewall the throttle climb up to FL280 as fast any SEP can take me, I don’t care it’s ‘cramped’. I’m two meters and sit comfortably, I love the solid feel on the ailerons, I love the way it sits on the tarmac, with that nose up ‘take me flying’ attitude and quircky tail, I for one love the fact that it was built by hand by a guy in a lumberjack shirt and jeans in a plant that looks like the workshop of my gliderclub, I love the fact that the upholstery was done by someones grandma and it still looks as good as it did when the plane came flying out of Kerrville the first time. It may not be for everyone, but I just love it.
Somehow Mooneys strike the right cord with me, I think that’s what it is all about. That’s the reason people won’t buy a Benz but prefer a BMW or the other way around. I commend Mooney for starting up again and I truely hope they make it.
Reading it back, It has become a bit of a rant. Sorry.
That’s not the point of this discussion. I think i wrote (about 5 times) how much i like Mooney. That does not necessarily mean they can be successful again.
Bobo, you have hit the nail on the head. There is no real logic in what we do, we do it because it ignites our soul.
No particular aeroplane is right for everyone, we all have our reasons, and at least your reasons show some passion!
Bobo, you are right, they are right for some people but not many and that’s why they went out of business and IMO will do again.
