Stopped by the Mooney factory today.

[nels]

My wife and I were driving east on I 10 in South Texas on our way back to Cincinnati from Phoenix when I saw a sign "Kerrville next exit". I pulled off and explained to my wife that Mooneys are made in Kerrville and maybe they would be willing to give us a quick tour. She was ok with it and I called Mooney. I talked to the girl on the other end of the line, she took my information and said she'd have someone call me back. We went to an antique shop to kill some time and while we were there a Jeff from Mooney called and asked if we could be there in about 20 minutes or so. Daaa, I agreed. So, after arriving at the guard shack, signing in and getting our name tags we were greeted by Larry, a long time time Mooney employee. He gave us the full tour, maybe two hours, and answered all my questions and then some. Great tour guide, great employees and a very clean and neat work environment. Very impressive!

I learned some new things like the the new two door planes have fiberglass skin around the passenger compartment instead of aluminum skin. No weight penalty. I assume assembly cost was reduced but more important to me, I would imagine interior noise would be reduced??

Also, I didn't know that aluminum could be heat treated but it can, he showed me the furnace and explained that after it is heated it is dipped in glycol(?) to keep the air from the surface then it is cooled to approx 32 degrees (?). It remains soft and can be metal worked and formed. After it is worked the glyco is removed and when air hits the surface the aluminum becomes hard. Hopefully I have this right.

Anyway, a great day. I think these guys just might make it. They all have a good attitude and they sure make a great product.

[clh]

Did you stop at the factory outlet and take a new one home?   The factory is one of  those things on my bucket list....

[nels]

I was going to say, I did check it off the bucket list!

[Danb]

I'm sure it's changed drastically, my visit there was in 1988 when I picked up my 201.

[1964-M20E]

Cool

 

I'd love to be able to buy a new one and make many trips there watching it be built.

 

 

[DonMuncy]

4 hours ago, Danb said:

I'm sure it's changed drastically, my visit there was in 1988 when I picked up my 201.

You really ought to go and look again. It is VASTLY different. Light, airy, clean, and a lot modern (not that I have anything to compare it to, other than the way it looked before). I don't know whether the Chinese owners are going to make a go of it or not, but I am very impressed with their apparent attitude. All the prior owners seemed to want to start building and selling airplanes, presumably to make money, right now. The attitude now seems to be "lets build a facility to make airplanes into the future". 

[Joe Zuffoletto]

I've got to get back down there. I last visited in 2004.

[Mark89114]

Did it look like there was legitimate revenue activities?  i.e. making airplanes?  

 

[Jeff_S]

It would be good to know how many airplanes are on the line in various states of manufacture. Nels, you should have notice that...any count? But beyond that, one of the reasons the factory has invested in such improvements is that they are now able to do contract outsource work for other companies. So Mooney makes revenue from more than just selling M20s.  It helps to keep the lights on while production and sales of the Ultras ramps up.

[nels]

Jeff, I believe I saw four in final assembly painted and close to completion and maybe two with wings, no interiors, no paint, one with engine one without, one or two fusalage assemblies being worked on, a main spar being riveted, a fusalage cage assembly being painted in the booth. So, it appears they have planes in process. It sounds as if they have made less than twenty units to date but a lot of that is due to ramp up of production and sales. Larry mentioned their target for this year is 24 planes or two per month. It doesn't sound unrealistic and there is work being performed on items from the base tubing structures and wing spars to final details on close to finished planes.

[Txbyker]

Any idea what “other” parts are being produced and for who?  Mooney manufacturing says they make parts for other manufacturers.  Just curious.

Russ

[steingar]

I think Cirrus makes two a day.

[mike_elliott]

10 hours ago, nels said:

Jeff, I believe I saw four in final assembly painted and close to completion and maybe two with wings, no interiors, no paint, one with engine one without, one or two fusalage assemblies being worked on, a main spar being riveted, a fusalage cage assembly being painted in the booth. So, it appears they have planes in process. It sounds as if they have made less than twenty units to date but a lot of that is due to ramp up of production and sales. Larry mentioned their target for this year is 24 planes or two per month. It doesn't sound unrealistic and there is work being performed on items from the base tubing structures and wing spars to final details on close to finished planes.

Jeff Magnus, Lance Phillips and the rest of the Mooney team have spent the last couple of months addressing each stations' quality control so that when a plane rolls into the delivery hangar, it is perfect. They recognize the importance of having the QC impeccable on these hand built planes to their sales and marketing efforts.

[LANCECASPER]

3 hours ago, steingar said:

I think Cirrus makes two a day.

https://www.flyingmag.com/cirrus-daher-and-honda-record-robust-2017-sales

Considering there are roughly 250 working days in the year, about 1.4 piston Cirruses a day last year were sold. Ten years ago in 2007 Cirrus made almost three a day, with 710 deliveries.

The last time Mooney made 100 airplanes in a year was in 2000 with exactly 100.     (They had three models: Bravo, Ovation and Eagle)

The last time Mooney made 200 airplanes in a year was in 1987 with 201 airplanes (They had three models: 201, Porsches and 91, almost half of them of them were 252's!!!)

The last time Mooney made 300 airplanes in a year was in 1981 with 342. (They had two very hot selling models: 176 201's and 166 231's)

The last time Mooney made 400 airplanes in a year was in 1977 with exactly 409. (They had three models: The end of the F (7), The C (25) and, believe it or not, in the first year of the 201 they delivered 377!!

Mooney's best year ever was 1968 when they made 5 models (A2-A Cadet, C, F, G, Mustang) with 621 deliveries!

 

In 1968 an F listed for $25,294. Adjusted for CPI that would be 183,940 in 2018 dollars. General Aviation inflation is over three times the regular rate of inflation.

For the price of a median home in 1968 ($22,200) after wheeling and dealing you could come real close to buying a new Mooney F. The median home price in the U. S. is in 2018 is 206,000. You can't buy a new Money for three times that. Agreed the new Mooney has a lot more than a 1968 Mooney, but the average today house has amenities that an average house didn't have in 1968.

Huge price increases and a decreasing number of pilots doesn't paint a great picture for GA's long term future. But Cirrus selling 100's a year still shows that if you stay in touch with the people that buy airplanes, some market is still there.

 

[BillBarton]

8 hours ago, steingar said:

I think Cirrus makes two a day.

Its a shame they are about half as sexy as a Mooney...

[Jeff_S]

12 hours ago, Txbyker said:

Any idea what “other” parts are being produced and for who?  Mooney manufacturing says they make parts for other manufacturers.  Just curious.

Russ

So I was there last June and I don’t  know what is happening now, but I remember seeing some engine nacelles for Citation jets that were part of some company’s retrofit process. There were also parts for another company that makes a warbird scale model that is pretty familiar (I believe that’s confidential so I won’t say the name in a blog). They were also getting some sales for non-aviation projects for their precision cutting machines.  So they have both aerospace and other industry contracts for their new capabilities. I was pretty impressed by what I saw.

[Mooney in Oz]

Is there any chance of a Mooney Summit being held in Kerrville?  I know about MAPA's Homecoming as I've already been to one, however if they did not clash.....

[neilpilot]

1 hour ago, Mooney in Oz said:

Is there any chance of a Mooney Summit being held in Kerrville?  I know about MAPA's Homecoming as I've already been to one, however if they did not clash.....

I can't speak for the organizers of the Mooney Summit, but as currently structured the event will likely always be held in Panama City Beach,  Florida.  I think organizers of both events have tried to avoid a direct schedule conflict.  This effort failed in 2017.  As I understand it, MAPA had set a tentative date for the 2017 Homecoming, and then the Mooney Summit organizers schedule Mooney Summit V accordingly.  Later, MAPA changed the dates to the same weekend due to a facility issue in Kerrville.

The dates for the Mooney Summit VI are posted in MS; 

 

[kpaul]

2 hours ago, Mooney in Oz said:

Is there any chance of a Mooney Summit being held in Kerrville?

@mike_elliott could probably explain it better than I, however one of the driving factors to holding the Summit in PCB stems from one of the Summit founders generosity each year.  Ron @rocketmanhappens to own multiple properties in the area and has worked out deals allowing the Summit access to conference rooms and lodging.  The FBO is also very supportive as well.

[Bob_Belville]

2 minutes ago, kpaul said:

@mike_elliott could probably explain it better than I, however one of the driving factors to holding the Summit in PCB stems from one of the Summit founders generosity each year.  Ron @rocketmanhappens to own multiple properties in the area and has worked out deals allowing the Summit access to conference rooms and lodging.  The FBO is also very supportive as well.

Summit is 9/27-30 (KECP) and MAPA Reunion is 10/11-14 this year (KERV). 

FWIW, we hope to ride a freshly painted, GDS Aero LLC (@Sabremech) cowled, Super 21 to both events. The 64 gallon Griggs/O&N bladders should make the ERV trip a one stop instead of 2 trip.

 

[kpaul]

1 minute ago, Bob_Belville said:

Summit is 9/27-30 (KECP) and MAPA Reunion is 10/11-14 this year (KERV). 

FWIW, we hope to ride a freshly painted, GDS Aero LLC (@Sabremech) cowled, Super 21 to both events. The 64 gallon Griggs/O&N bladders should make the ERV trip a one stop instead of 2 trip.

 

Bob, when are you going to start calling your plane a Super-er 21?  I think you have moved beyond just super at this point.  Looking forward to seeing the upgrades.

[Gone]

Bob:

You bringing Nancy with you?  Will she agree to go that long without a stop?

[Bob_Belville]

1 minute ago, kpaul said:

Bob, when are you going to start calling your plane a Super-er 21?  I think you have moved beyond just super at this point.  Looking forward to seeing the upgrades.

I like the new Mooney tag: "Pilot Perfect".

[Bob_Belville]

2 minutes ago, Ned Gravel said:

Bob:

You bringing Nancy with you?  Will she agree to go that long without a stop?

Yes, no.

[Gone]

Ah... The Mooney Factory.  Was part of our SW US trip in 2015.  Did the tour at the end of March on our way back to Ottawa from Lost Vegas ().  I like having evidence of bringing her home to her birthplace.  Did the same thing with the girl in the picture in 1982, but that is another story.

Factory was moving things along when we visited.  2 hour tour.