Okay, we can all agree that Mooney has some problems (right?), but I think that it’s possible for them to bounce back.
First off, Mooney needs to realize that “debt” is a four letter word. If Mooney has any debt, they should work at paying it off before they work on any other projects. In addition, if they can actually own their land and factory, that would be one less liability to deal with.
Second, 15 million dollars is a lot of money. And while that money could come from just one person or group, if several people contributed, then that would relieve stress from one individual, and could possibly attract more investors if they know that they won’t have to pay the whole figure. I propose that everyone who wants to see Mooney continue to support current aircraft as well as build new planes, donate at least 100 dollars to Mooney. Most likely, there will be some people who are willing to donate more than others, and that 15 million dollar figure could sufficiently be whittled down if enough people donate.
But it won’t take just 15 million to restart Mooney. Let’s estimate that it will take 30 million for Mooney to continue to support aircraft as well as build new airplanes. Once again, this extra 15 million could be had if investors and owners/operators donated money to the Mooney. (Remember Epic Aircraft? It would take a lot of money, but I believe it can be done.)
On to production! Mooney not only needs to be able to catch up to competition (in terms of performance, useful load, parachutes, de-icing, etc), but it needs to provide something that consumers see as more valuable than what the competition has. Much more valuable. Whether this is just a little bit better of everything, or a massive upgrade in one or two particular areas, Mooney needs something that will catch buyer’s eyes.
Mooney needs to upgrade specs and performance, but at the same time, underpromise. If Mooney believes that they can get their airplane to break 300 knots, then they should tell potential buyers that they believe their aircraft can hit 275 knots. Why? Let’s say that no matter how hard Mooney tries, they can’t achieve their speed goal, but now they have some wiggle room to be able to keep their promises. In addition, as long as the aircraft can fly faster than 275 knots, then buyers are pleasantly surprised with this accomplishment. In a similar manner, if Mooney thinks they can bring their product to market in 5 years, then tell consumers 7 years. That way you still have wiggle room, and if you do finish in 5 years, you’re ahead of schedule!
Once again about airplane performance upgrades. If Mooney has ever played with numbers or fiddled with a fluid dynamics program (I tried this once with X-Plane’s X-Plane Maker) then they should be able to realize that they can significantly reduce drag on their aircraft. The fast back on the Mooney looks cool, but it doesn’t allow laminar flow to work well. Take a look at the Diamond DA-50 or the Pipistrel Panthera. Do you notice how their empennage tapers in quickly from the cabin to a stinger tail? If Mooney could produce a similar shape in their aircraft, they could significantly increase their speed. (For reference, in X-Plane, I got this basic shape with a a Mooney wing and tail feathers to 292 knots at 20,000 feet at 2,500 lbs and 350hp.) See? There is room for improvement! And yes, composites are definitely the way to go. Unless Mooney uses a different material that has a lower coefficient of kinetic friction. (I actually don’t know if this would work, but I don’t see why not. If you can think of a reason it wouldn’t, please let me know!) A quick google search revealed that Aluminum has a coefficient of kinetic friction of 0.47 while Boron-Aluminum-Magnesium (BAM) has a coefficient of kinetic friction of 0.02. I don’t know if this material would work on aircraft, but if it did, it would make sense to me that the aircraft in question would have a significant speed boost.
This is not specific to just Mooneys, but it would be really nice if the price of their products could be decreased significantly. It is unacceptable that the price of a small single engine piston costs that of a house. So what drives aircraft’s prices up so much? The engine, avionics, and the certification. Why is it that a rebuilt Continental TSIO-550-G costs over one hundred thousand dollars, and a Continental IO-550-G costs roughly fifty five thousand dollars? https://www.airpowerinc.com/search?pagenumber=5&viewmode=grid&orderby=0&q=IO-550&advs=false That’s too expensive, you can get a really nice car for that!
Or what about avionics? Only one Garmin G500TXi costs about $18,500. (https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/612862/pn/TXi-0G500-04) And then there’s the price of certification. According to General Aviation News, for a Part 23 aircraft, certification costs are roughly 25 million dollars. (https://generalaviationnews.com/2012/09/09/the-cost-of-certification/) (I believe that certification costs are much less for an updated aircraft that has already been certified.) And while certification costs would be hard to lower, something can be done about the other two. Let’s talk about a hypothetical situation here. Let’s say that Mooney goes to Continental (or Garmin) and has a conversation like this. “Hi, I’m interested in buying your product. However, I would like to keep the price of my own product down. Is there some way that we can reach an agreement on lowering the price of your product for us?” Surely it couldn’t hurt to try this approach.
Those are just my two cents. Long live Mooney!
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