David_H

Going through the certification process with the FAA may appear to be a poor use of resources for improvements or new products if the target audience is in China. It's very possible that current owners in the US aren't Mooney International's long-term target audience. It is known that they have an assembly factory in China and have been training pilots in China for at least a few years now. The rules for certificating a plane in China may be so different that it would make little sense to go through the certification process for the US market.

Mitch, there is more we can all do. The answer to Mooney Internationals current problems were spelled out clearly in the first post (then we strayed off topic with minor details.) We can all elect to earn more and buy a new Mooney. Okay @mike_elliott... I'll come clean: I don't agree with the opening post and I admit that I'm poking a little fun. Please try to look past the humor and know that I very much value your opinion, as I do others on here... even when I don't fully agree. That said, I highly value others views and my ignore list has zero people on it.

The following question may seem very pointed. However, it's not meant to be offensive. Would you consider buying a new Mooney to show your support for all their generosity?

This brings up an extremely good point. We do not have all the information and are speculating on how we can best gift them with intellectual ideas to help them succeed... hoping they will then remember to provide us with future "service." They don't appear to have had the ability to generate the intellectual property... so they purchased it. Hopefully others can see this for what it is as well. They likely aren't foolish enough to appear to hemorrhage cash for no reason. These are investors and likely have a goal that we're unable to see.

They are (and have historically) provided extremely poor service. Will they provide better service after they've been given enough good ideas? Rewarding poor business management with equitable ideas seems like an extremely inefficient use of intellectual ability. They wanted a presence in the American Marketplace and now they have it. Welcome to America. Earn the business or fail. Perhaps Mooney International needs to elect to succeed. Their current business strategy doesn't appear to be working. It would be much better for everyone if they fail quickly if they aren't serious about turning things around. Perhaps more capable minds can (or be willing to) pick up the pieces and make the thing work if they continue their current downward trajectory. If not, the Mooney community has lost nothing.

It doesn't appear as if Mooney International has ever made an attempt to be "part of the family." While everyone here wants them to succeed, and would contribute to helping, they aren't even here to have any dialogue. Perhaps this is because they believe many of us haven't elected to earn more. Mooney International appears to have made numerous unfavorable business decisions. If they think they can run a company in China similarly and achieve positive results, then they should go give that a shot. It's going to be rather difficult to force them to listen to ideas to bail them out for their mismanagement of the Mooney brand name.

There is a community of Engineers, Professors, Marketing Executives, Business Owners, A&P's, AI's, and many... many others that are extremely able, talented, and extremely interested in seeing Mooney International succeed. The amount of people here that could help Mooney International is absolutely staggering. However, Mooney International has no presence here. This is beyond confusing.

^............. 100% on point.

The product is good for certain. No one here will likely attempt to dispute that. However, they appear to be non-competitive cost-wise when stacked up against competing products in the same price category. The product Mooney International is currently marketing was already there. There has been NO observable innovation. It doesn't appear as if Mooney International reached out to anyone to perform their marketing due diligence. Surely Mooney International has done some market research to identify their target demographics. Perhaps they decided current owners didn't fit their target demographics. Every time I have a part fail on the M20F, I cringe knowing it will be an unpleasant debacle. Mooney doesn't appear to be very interested in helping to keep the current fleet flying. Perhaps that isn't in their business interest and one reason they don't want to talk to current owners. This sure would be a good forum for someone from Mooney International to participate in. It doesn't seem like they have an interest in hearing feedback from current owners.

BK/ Honeywell will help bring this product to market sooner? It's business and everyone gets it. However, what was good for him and his family may not be very good for the AP market. Hopefully he was paid handsomely and his family benefits greatly. The problem is that they have too many orders and too high of a market potential to hire and train a workforce? Can someone at TT quantify what "on time" means? Their "projected" timeline has succeeded in confusing everyone.

Is Mooney International actively targeting any marketing efforts towards existing Mooney owners? It would go a long way if they could somehow convey how they're supporting the existing fleet... if they are indeed looking for support from the existing Mooney community. Mooney International appears to have a very different target demographic than current owners. It's difficult to imagine that they haven't done the market research to support their current product. Does anyone know who are they targeting?

Perhaps it's a coincidence that BK also recently unveiled the AeroCruze AP. It takes time to develop and bring a product to market. If BK had possessed the technological ability to develop the AeroCruze, it would have made very little business sense to acquire TT.

Imagine receiving a letter or an email welcoming you to the BK/ Honeywell family. It may very well state that they look forward to providing "Legendary Support." The official acquisition announcement was just made. However, one has to ask: just how long has the clock been ticking since closing the acquisition deal?

Even though TT positioning itself for acquisition by BK/ Honeywell was called out earlier in this thread, this is very disappointing news. This acquisition will likely not be beneficial for General Aviation. I wonder if the Piper and Cessna guys will now be required to send in their TT autopilots to BK for service now. That would be a very tough pill to have to swallow.

Was this a quadrant or push-pull control?

I had a mixture cable seize in the guide sleeve just before the fuel servo. The mixture was leaned during the landing roll and could not be moved to idle cut off for the shutdown. It was a real sobering experience. I'm currently working with Mcfarlane now and have one of their mixture cables sitting beside me (It's not correct.) It's not been a pleasant experience so far. It's not always as easy as ordering the correct part number.

What are the odds? Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket. I just experienced a mixture seizure in a 75 M20F quadrant. It's been a real experience trying to get it sorted out.

Isn't liability generally cited as a driving reason for charging exorbitant fees in Aviation? If the shop isn't willing to shoulder the liability then what exactly did the OP get for the ridiculous OH cost? Either incorrect parts were used or another failure mode is present. Either way, this looks as if the responsibility should be the burden of the overhaul shop. The fact that we're discussing this says this is likely not a very good shop. It's too bad that people sometimes seem to get skewered for calling shops out for this kind of poor work and even poorer customer service. If they are indeed a MSC... this is a Mooney group and they should be rightly called out. Lastly, the OP should make sure to purchase an extremely nice bottle of spirits to give to his mechanic for finding this mess. This mechanic could have saved his and other lives. I don't even know the mechanic... but am thankful that he did his job and found this.

Just another random opinion: The owner would likely shoulder any liabilities until another party takes possession of the engine in some form. If a ferry pilot acted as the owner's agent to deliver the plane, then it may still be considered as still being in the owner's possession. This seems like a terrible grey area to be in as an owner. The shop should be required to fully shoulder this liability burden. Whenever someone hands the controls over to another pilot... it's always good practice to say: "Your Airplane" and unmistakably hear back from the other pilot: "My Airplane" so that PIC responsibilities are completely clear. In this case it might be appropriate to say: "Your Engine... in writing please."

I'm sure there are some that have imported avionics from Europe. However, that might be more trouble than the indicator is worth. I do appreciate the offer though.

Does anyone know of an A&P anywhere around Indiana that would be willing to supervise the installation of a KN75 GS receiver? I've spoke with a few AI's and the best I've been able to get was either they don't want to mess with Avionics... or they simply want to slow down so they can retire. The Avionics shops I've spoke with only want to discuss new installations. However, they can't get to any installations now anyway... so there's that as well. Would a new radio be nice... absolutely. Is it necessary... No. AC43.13-2B seems to imply that an installation could be viewed as a minor alteration. A KN-75 shows to be a hefty 1.5lbs. Perhaps there's also the possibility to install an external GS receiver under FAR 43.3 Appendix A(31)? I'm uncertain of this though. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm running out of ideas and the summer is burning away quickly.

I doesn't like as if he works on KI-214's any longer. The wording from his website is below:

I'm currently in Indiana. It may be a better solution to move on to another radio. Finding a shop to do a radio install will likely be a chore as well. All anyone wants to talk about is a new $15-25K avionics panel upgrade. I'd just like to get an operational GS so I can get through an IFR checkride.

The 30hrs of labor seemed to be part of one of those "we don't really have time to do these kinds of jobs" conversation since there is a glut ADSB work at the moment. The Avionics world seems to be in a unique place at the moment. It's almost like a Payday-Loan type of environment.

No one hears about the low-dollar avionics horror stories because there aren't many to be told lately. Avionics shops don't even want to speak with you unless you're ready to go on (at least) a 6-month waiting list to spend a minimum of $10K.