Mooney Factory Tour

[TWinter]

I've looked at the Mooney Corp website ( I have to agree..poor web design). Anyway, I am looking for some info about the factory and availability of taking a tour.

While having dinner with my father the other night I mentioned how cool it would be for he and I to take a tour of the now up and running Mooney Factory. He thought it sounded like a terrific idea. Does anybody know who, what and when they do factory tours or do they even do them randomly? Cost etc?

It's only about 4 hr +/- flight for us so we would probably go down on a Thursday and get settled in. Hopefully tour the next day (Friday) and come home late Friday or Saturday morning. We would get a rental vehicle right at the field and stay in Kerrville Thursday night and possibly Friday night.

I have not been able to make it to a Mooney Homecoming so I'm not familiar with Kerrville. Any recommendations for us as far as where to stay and or tour info..Dad's close to 80, but in good health. Walking the tour will be no problem..As far as seeing sites that require a whole lot of walking, probably needs to be somewhat limited (he had knee replacement last year..does well, just limited). Dad's a retired Marine ("24 yr lifer") and a major history buff..anything we just need to see in the area that he would enjoy?

Any suggestions or tour info?  I know I can call the factory and get info, but thought I would toss this out there.

 

Thanks,

 

-Tom

[DonMuncy]

Stacey, are you listening.

[FoxMike]

You might consider showing up to the next MAPA convention.  Generally a factory tour is part of the program.

[TWinter]

34 minutes ago, FoxMike said:

You might consider showing up to the next MAPA convention.  Generally a factory tour is part of the program.

This trip is more of a trip for he and I to share the experience. Not sure the MAPA convention would be the correct venue for this type of trip.

 

-Tom

[carusoam]

The Marketing and sales guys may be interested in helping out.  They are good for stuff like that.  Unless they don't like showing their product and facility to existing Mooney owners.

Director of M&S is a guy named Jared Absher.  See if you can contact him.

Best regards,

-a-

[TWinter]

It's been a while since I posted this and looks like there was no firm answer on MS. So I called Mooney factory today..Just wanted to pass it on to anyone that might have been wondering..

Tours are available and conducted on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 am. They last about an hour and half. They do suggest you email them in advance and let them know you are coming. The lady I spoke to  in the office on the phone was extremely nice and very helpful. I think I will be scheduling a trip for my dad and I within the next few weeks. We will fly down on a Wednesday and take the tour on Thursday and probably head back to TN that afternoon after the tour.

There is no cost for the tours, just a request that you let them know you are coming.

Sounds like a great time. I'll either be really proud of how well my 73 looks and how well she has held up over the years, or really depressed after comparing 1973 to a 2016 model knowing it would take a winning lottery ticket to own a new one..  Just kidding, it well be a great learning experience seeing how these birds come to life..as well as the opportunity to make a memorable trip with my dad..Priceless!

 

-Tom

[Joe Zuffoletto]

Tom, what a coincidence! I just booked my tour this morning with Lori for Thursday, May 26th. I'll be flying my Mooney down to McAllen, TX for a business trip earlier that week and plan to hit the factory on the way home.

[Danb]

Cool, I went on a tour in 1988 when I bought my J, I'm sure or think so, that it's changed dramatically in the last 26 yrs. It would be cool for a group of us to tour it together.

[TWinter]

16 minutes ago, Joe Zuffoletto said:

Tom, what a coincidence! I just booked my tour this morning with Lori for Thursday, May 26th. I'll be flying my Mooney down to McAllen, TX for a business trip earlier that week and plan to hit the factory on the way home.

Joe, That is ironic, Lori was who I spoke to as well. She was very helpful. We have not booked the tour yet, but at least I have a idea of how it works. Looking forward to it for sure. I think we may end up doing the tour before your May 26th date.

It would have been cool to meet you and schedule around the same time, but I think the end of May is the weekend I've offered to fly my folks to my brother's home in Orlando for my nephew's HS graduation.  We will have to keep the schedule in mind and see what happens meanwhile..

Dan,  That is a great idea. I'm sure things would look much different to you from 26 yrs ago..

 

-Tom

 

[Bob_Belville]

Well, I have a tour scheduled for May 20, a Friday. I'm attending MooneyMax Maintenance Seminar in Longview that weekend and Jan Maxwell put me in contact with Luis Acosta who has arranged for Joe Schmerber to take us through, apparently on a non-standard day.

Every contact I've ever had with Mooney folks has been friendly and helpful.

 

 

[cddrescher]

As where to stay, Fredericksburg is a quaint town about 30 miles away.  Wineries, tours, shopping etc.  T82 is a great field too.  PM for any specific recommendations.  I'm a "new" local but have some ideas.

[gsengle]

Do they have ramp accommodations if you fly your Mooney in?

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[1524J]

Tom, you need to take your dad to Fredericksburg. It's about 30 miles Northeast. They have the National Museum of the Pacific War. Sounds like something he'd enjoy. If you don't mind a slight detour, take him to Ezell aviation at KBKD. They restore WWII planes and their shop is always full. Probably 15 or so. They test fly them on a regular basis. Might be worth a phone call. 

[Jim Peace]

Did a 2 hour tour today of Cessna in independence Kansas. 

Woke up in Lubbock flew to IDP. Did the tour and flew to Muncie Indiana. Next stop NJ. 

I love my M20c but the only mooney that turns me on now is the acclaim s. Maybe I have not studied the new line up as hard as I should but for some reason I don't want to after skimming over the basics. 

Am I the only one who feels this way?  

 

[Marauder]

Did a 2 hour tour today of Cessna in independence Kansas. 

Woke up in Lubbock flew to IDP. Did the tour and flew to Muncie Indiana. Next stop NJ. 

I love my M20c but the only mooney that turns me on now is the acclaim s. Maybe I have not studied the new line up as hard as I should but for some reason I don't want to after skimming over the basics. 

Am I the only one who feels this way?  

 

You'll get over it when you see the cost of entry and the fuel burn. Just stop looking, the drooling subsides shortly afterwards

[Amelia]

I got the Cook's tour for a feature article some years ago, and then got to fly the latest and greatest off the assembly line, an Ovation2 as I recall. It was quite an experience to fly what was, essentially, a hand-crafted airplane, with all the glass gadgetry they could fit in the panel. I'd love to see the factory's modernization. And yes, climbing back in what was then a 20-something year old Mooney, in need of upgrades, was a bit of a comedown, I had to smile, though, as I compared my fuel flow with theirs. Told it, as I patted its faded cowling, there was not a thing wrong with being second-best.

We really liked our stay at the Hangar Hotel right there on the runway at Frederick, All by itself, it was worth the he trip, with its WWII ambience. We rented a car, enjoyed the town of Frederick, and the lovely hill country wild flowers. Pretty early-morning drive to the Mooney factory from there. I bet that would be a hit for a history buff. The transients on the ramp were fine warbirds, active military aircraft, and pretty homebuilts. 

 

[TWinter]

 

Great info.. Looks like it would be worth it to add an extra day and go to Fredericksburg (T82). He is a huge history buff and of course anything to do with planes I would enjoy it. Sounds like something we need to checkout while we are there!

-Tom

[LANCECASPER]

Fredericksburg (T82), not Frederick (that's in Maryland). The on field hotel and diner are worth a trip over there.

Also not far away in Llano (KAQO) is Cooper's BBQ. They leave a van at the airport for fly-in visitors.

http://www.flyingmag.com/pilots-places/pilots-adventures-more/gear-taking-hill-country-spin

The Cowboy Steakhouse in Kerrville is a great choice also. http://www.cowboysteakhouse.com/ It belongs to the family of David Ferrus, a Mooneyspacer (McStealth).

[rainman]

Contact McStealth (David) on MS, he lives in Kerrville, flys out of KERV (where the factory is) and knows all the ins-outs.

[cliffy]

Be sure to ask about the story behind setting the big press-mill in place in its hole, in the middle of the Mooney factory, many decades ago.  It was Texas ingenuity 

[Joe Zuffoletto]

On 4/12/2016 at 5:42 PM, gsengle said:

Do they have ramp accommodations if you fly your Mooney in?

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Yes. That's what I'm doing.

[Seth]

On February 22, 2016 at 1:32 AM, carusoam said:

The Marketing and sales guys may be interested in helping out.  They are good for stuff like that.  Unless they don't like showing their product and facility to existing Mooney owners.

Director of M&S is a guy named Jared Absher.  See if you can contact him.

Best regards,

-a-

Let me know if you need Jared's email and I'll PM you.  He is very responsive.

-Seth

[Deb]

Sadly, Jared is no longer at Mooney. He is with Embraer.

[DAVIDWH]

For the lazy,

Mooney factory tours are available on line, U-Tube.

Quite informative.

[TWinter]

The schedules and the stars never did align this past summer for this trip so finally getting a Mooney Factory tour lined up for December 15th (next month). Should be a great time. Mooney tour then over to T82 to check things out there. Should be fun...Not sure what the weather will be, hopefully nice   Joe Schmerber will be our tour guide. Big thanks to Lori at Mooney for getting this lined up for us.

 

-Tom