A good question because a plane with nobody supporting the TC cannot exist in EASA-land.
The N-reg fleet is unaffected.
The only way a Mooney could go on Annex 1 is if (in UK CAA speak) it was not capable of going onto a TC.
What has happened in the past is that some company took over the TC, but AFAIK that happened
Most likely, European owners will go N-reg. Legally this is an issue (long term parking limits) in only a few places.
The biggest challenge will be finding a US DAR (they have been as rare as rocking horse sh*t, and one well known one got terminated by the FAA recently, halfway through a job) but I heard a few days ago that the FAA is terminating the territorial exclusivity arrangements which have made the “DPE/DAR in Europe” such a lucrative (not to say “arrogant”) business.
I think the market has moved to Cirrus & Co, an Acclaim is only 230kts but priced at 800k$ while not 4 seats, no de-ice, no playload, no chute…
There is more than just speed, especially when you only showing +15% vs but pricing at +400%
Mooney is far from closing and disappearing as company. 90 employees to remain.
The question is what do they do? And what does “parts support” really mean when no parts are being produced at all?
The laid off 229 workers and retain 90. Which means they had 319 workers – and sold 7 planes per year! You don’t have to be even 3 years old to understand that’s completely unsustainable. Have no idea how they survived this long with that amount of workforce in place for such a low volume item.
Do you know what a Mooney electrical trim switch assy costs? Or the Mooney engine instrument cluster? 
I think that is mostly what kept things going…
But yes, owners do all the repairs etc. off the book, and use PMAd or STCd replacement parts WHEREVER possible, so I guess the parts biz isn’t all that great after all.
Do you know what a Mooney electrical trim switch assy costs? Or the Mooney engine instrument cluster?
A few years ago I saw the price for an annunciator panel. A few lamps in a piece of metal, painted and screen printed. It was $1k. But that would be the same for Cessna or Piper, or Socata, or Cirrus. All the custom parts cost a fortune. I saw some Cirrus airframe part prices recently – astronomical.
I think that is mostly what kept things going…
Indeed, which is why stopping this makes no sense.
I think different “type communities” have different attitudes to aesthetics and different approaches to maintenance. An SR22 owner would take it to a dealer and get it like new. Very generally, of course… If, as I suspect, Mooney owners are really resourceful, that would pretty well depress the spares business. This is why all the manufacturers try to use their own part numbers – to prevent OEM lookup. Socata keep their French suppliers under a very tight leash, to stop them selling direct. For example it is quite likely that Mooney use the same Parker landing gear pump as most others in GA, and if there is a strong type community then somebody (FAA 145) will set up to buy the pump from Parker in bulk and re-sell it with an 8130-3. And the smarter people will know that the 8130-3 is not actually needed anyway 
This sort of thing is a problem only if your maintenance company has got you over a barrel… IOW, if you are in Europe and are not N-reg.
boscomantico wrote:
Do you know what a Mooney electrical trim switch assy costs? Or the Mooney engine instrument cluster?
I think that is mostly what kept things going…
These parts are outsourced and not made in-house by Mooney.
Here is the trim switch assy found on most Mooneys.
Mooney engine instrument clusters are either provided by Rochester (until 1990), Sigma-tek (1990-1998) or Moritz (1999-2004).
Annunciators are made by IAI.
Most of the time you don’t need to go through Mooney to get such parts.
Mooney only really made airframe parts inhouse
One of the reasons I mentioned Bellanca is that they were in about the same position in the late 80s to early 90s when they built the last few complete planes… They then continued as a very small operation supplying parts and overhauling planes for decades afterward. Same thing with Bölkow in Europe except they sold off their parts stock and now just do paperwork. Something along those lines is what will happen with Mooney because there are thousands of them flying now, and there will be in the future – the fairly obvious reason they couldn’t sell new ones successfully.
If nothing else happens I imagine eventually Univair will get in the Mooney airframe parts business, as with many other types for which they either hold the TC or have PMAs.
By the way, the numbers of employees laid off seem contradictory, in the various sources.
Anyway, of course there is a differnce between a furlough and a layoff.
Avweb here.
I believe it was initially announced as a week-long furlough for all, and later turned into a layoff for the 229.
