Mooney shutdown

[Serge]

Has mooney really shutdown again?

[GeorgePerry]

2 minutes ago, Serge said:

Has mooney really shutdown again?

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/mooney-shut-down-employees-furloughed/

Sad, true, but not unsurprising.  Back in 2014, I was working for Cirrus but had been a long time Mooney owner.  That year at AirVenture in Oshkosh, I made a point to stop by the Mooney tent and found the CEO.  I asked him, if there were any plans to put a parachute system in the Ovation / Acclaim and pursue a gross weight increase.  He said they were working on other things (Trainer, two doors, carbon fiber shell etc) and didn't see the need to do all the testing and engineering required to install a BRS.  

I told him politely, but bluntly, that I thought he was making a mistake and that Cirrus with its SR22 & CAPs were going to put Mooney out of business in under 5 years.   At the time Cirrus was out selling Mooney 30 to 1 annually.  I explained to him that while speed & efficiency are important selling points, wives don't care about that, they care about safety.  And convincing wives to "sign off" on the purchase of a plane was the only way to sell $600K+ SE piston airplanes.  

He was polite but unreceptive.  He responded by saying that Mooney's speed and efficiency had always been its best selling points and was confident that when all the "improvements" they were working on and the trainer come to market, they'd be in good shape going forward and able to compete.  I can only imagine how successful Mooney would have been with a 1200 lb useful load and a BRS.  But we'll never know.

As it turns out I wasn't too far off from my insolvency date estimate.  No doubt, GA is a tough market place and the road to success is paved with the carcasses of literally hundreds of dreamers, ideas and companies that just never make it or can't sustain over the long haul.  Innovation and evolution are important but giving the customers what they (really their wives) want is the most important factor to sustainability.  Unfortunately Mooney has learned that again the hard way. 

Edited November 13, 2019 by GeorgePerry

[Jerry 5TJ]

The Plane & Pilot e-article says the company will not be making parts for sale. 

https://www.planeandpilotmag.com/article/mooney-ceasing-production/#.XctYH2ROnDt

[toto]

22 minutes ago, Serge said:

Has mooney really shutdown again?

Yeah there's a longish thread on it..