MooneyMitch Posted October 25, 2010 Report Posted October 25, 2010 I just watched the documentary of Burt Rutan and Sir Richard Branson's Spaceship 1 and the first flight of Spaceship 2 from Mojave, CA. Thrilling!! If we could only talk Sir Richard into purchasing Mooney. Wow, now there is the future of Al and Art's legacy. Talk about R&D!! Can you imagine?
HopePilot Posted October 25, 2010 Report Posted October 25, 2010 Were you watching "Black Sky: The Race For Space?"
MooneyMitch Posted October 25, 2010 Author Report Posted October 25, 2010 Not sure Fernando, just caught part of the show. I believe this was filmed in mid-March of this year. Seeing the White Knight at Oshkosh last year and then watching Spaceship 2 drop from it on this show was just thrilling.
roundout Posted October 25, 2010 Report Posted October 25, 2010 I've long believed that somebody like Branson or Mark Cuban would be a perfect fit to help Mooney along.
HopePilot Posted October 25, 2010 Report Posted October 25, 2010 Just picked up a Burt Rutan autographed picture of Spaceship 1 at Mojave's 75th Anniversary open house. That's a pretty cool place to fly to. Mitch, if you want to see the whole thing, fly down to KBUR and we'll watch it. You know, another idea to to have another one of those awesome move fly-ins.
Kwixdraw Posted October 25, 2010 Report Posted October 25, 2010 Maybe a lighter composit M-20+ airframe. Greater payload and speed with the slicker airframe. Better fuel economy.....speedbrakes really required then.
DaV8or Posted October 25, 2010 Report Posted October 25, 2010 I'm sure that Richard Branson is smart enough to stay away from GA aircraft production as an investment, and if he's not flying a Mooney now, it's not likely he'll want anything to do with it. Besides, his disposable income is clearly earmarked for space travel and as much as it pains me to say this, I think this is a nobler cause than saving an old airplane company on the rocks. Still, there are plenty of other rich guys out there. Surely one of them must have owned a Mooney in their past.
Parker_Woodruff Posted October 25, 2010 Report Posted October 25, 2010 I can think of a lot of options that could put this company on the map again...but they all require huge amounts of initial investment... Kerrville is hurting right now. In other news, the guy who cut my hair the other day asked me what year my plane was...when I said 1990, he said he's the one who welded it together.
Bob Posted October 26, 2010 Report Posted October 26, 2010 From aircraft manufacturer to barber, pretty sad!
richardheitzman Posted October 26, 2010 Report Posted October 26, 2010 Quote: Parker_Woodruff I can think of a lot of options that could put this company on the map again...but they all require huge amounts of initial investment... Kerrville is hurting right now. In other news, the guy who cut my hair the other day asked me what year my plane was...when I said 1990, he said he's the one who welded it together.
Parker_Woodruff Posted October 26, 2010 Report Posted October 26, 2010 Quote: richardheitzman You got your hair cut at that place in Comfort I bet!
DaV8or Posted October 27, 2010 Report Posted October 27, 2010 The idea of all this skilled labor going unutilized makes me very sad. Not just for Mooney, or Kerrville, but for America. I fantisized today about moving to Kerrville to employ these people to make high end aviation furniture. Kind of like what Motoart does, but instead of finding old airplane parts in the boneyard and trying to make them into furniture, start from scratch. Making new structures using aircraft materials and techniques to make functional things for your home or hanger that look like they could have come from an airplane, or have a distinct aviation feel, but are purpose built and functional.
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