Should Mooney bring back the 201?

[Shadrach]

The Mid and Long bodies are perfectly comfortable for 4 normal sized folks.  I find it kind of funny that some folks find the Long bodies "so much roomier" than the Mid bodies. I believe the seating positions are identical - all of the extra length on a long body is in the baggage compartment.  Ian Twombly of AOPA did a write up on the E model and talked about how tight the pilot seat was for him yet extolled the roominess of the left seat in the Acclaim.  Not the sharpest pen in the flight bag...

[jetdriven]

The serious problemn with newer airplanes is useful load. fill her up and 200 lbs in the cabin.  Same as a Mite. The new A36 isnt much better in this regard, we sat in a new one at OSH last year and it was 950 lbs.  Same as my 201.  165 knots. About the same as my 201.  Shoulder room, about the same as my 201.  GPH, 14-16, (substantially more).  Price tag, 675K.  ten times what I bought my plane for. 

 

 

But I do envy those big doors.

[Mooneymite]

..... I'd say there is something to this kit building thing and companies like Mooney should get on board. There is no reason in the world they can't do both certified and kits. 

 

Maybe one of you Mooney historians can set me straight, but I recall that the M-18 Mite, could be bought as a kit, or at least built from plans.  According to the Mooneymite site, there are very few non-production Mites.  The vast majority of buyers preferred the factory certified model.

 

On another note....if anyone can find a set of Mite plans, a 100 hp rotax Mite might just be spectacular experimental airplane.

[peevee]

Maybe one of you Mooney historians can set me straight, but I recall that the M-18 Mite, could be bought as a kit, or at least built from plans.  According to the Mooneymite site, there are very few non-production Mites.  The vast majority of buyers preferred the factory certified model.

 

On another note....if anyone can find a set of Mite plans, a 100 hp rotax Mite might just be spectacular experimental airplane.

I would have preferred a factory built plane too back when they didn't cost twice as much as my house.

[N601RX]

Someone sold an original set of Mooney Mite plans on ebay a few months ago.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mooney-Mite-Homebuilt-Blueprints-/291451322245?vxp=mtr&hash=item43dbda3f85&nma=true&si=COAn84O8auM7tzrkc6l9VEmZtVY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557