Hello Jonny.....

[toto]

4 minutes ago, Niko182 said:

I thought they were talking about cowls?

Crap, okay I missed that. We should change the title

[EricJ]

I thought we were talking about engine control cables?

Apparently some mystery kits went out somewhere for something.   Communication is incomplete.

[carusoam]

On 10/9/2020 at 8:08 PM, GeeBee said:

Thank you for taking on the mission Jonny. I am sure each day you shake your head as you find out new "gotchas" I've been in your shoes trying to resurrect an FBO and just when you think you can come up for air, someone pushes you back down.

I would like to bring up a dire issue that is grounding Mooney's and almost grounded mine. That is the "No back spring" kit. M20-282. I think I bought the last kit in America last month and I called just about every MSC to find one, only to find no stock. As luck would have it, I found one at Cole Aviation just an hour drive away. I know talking to Lasar they have 15 on back order and other's do as well. Without these kits, we cannot fly. The only choice is to find a used actuator starting at about 8000 dollars vs 1000 for the kit. There are many parts owners can reproduce, but this is not one them. Any idea when relief will come?

 

 

[carusoam]

Reading through the thread...

GeeBee was first in line with a request...

For the elusive spring... 

Best regards,

-a-

[Jonny]

Hey Folks.

The new Mooney website is up and running, take a look and jump in. We'll be improving and adding to it over the next few weeks. We welcome your participation in the forum and we may tap some of you to write blog as well. We're working hard but there's lots to do so please be patient with the website and our plans. Be safe and remember, there's no covid or politics at 10,000 feet, so go fly!

Be safe!

Jonny

[EricJ]

59 minutes ago, Jonny said:

Hey Folks.

The new Mooney website is up and running, take a look and jump in. We'll be improving and adding to it over the next few weeks. We welcome your participation in the forum and we may tap some of you to write blog as well. We're working hard but there's lots to do so please be patient with the website and our plans. Be safe and remember, there's no covid or politics at 10,000 feet, so go fly!

Be safe!

Jonny

First impression:   Huge step backward.

I can't find any information about purchasing an aircraft or parts for one.   Two of the menu tabs are mystery content until you go to the page; Mooney Notams and Air Traffic.   It looks like the only thing the factory is producing these days is mugs and shirts.   I find it pretty sad, personally.

It's nice that the actual support documents are still there, so thanks for that, although it's hidden on the "service" page.

 

[GeeBee]

Love that the "Speed Shop" is back. Gives my wife a chance to spend money on me!

 

 

[cferr59]

As a Mooney owner, former web developer and current software consultant, is this the most amazing website in the world?  No, but I think Mooney needs to get back on their feet and doesn't have unlimited budget.  I would love to be able to buy parts here, but it isn't a loss to be able to buy some reasonably priced merch.  Building some excitement for the brand is a bit of a pre-req to be successful selling new airplanes. I am happy that the company is moving forward.  

[ZuluZulu]

"When You Own a Mooney, You Don't Own a Plane, You Own an Aircraft.  When You Fly a Mooney, You're Not a Pilot, You're an Aviator.  So Yeah... Own It!"

?????????????

[hypertech]

I like it.  A customer / community first approach is nice to see.  I assume more details about what is on offer to buy will follow.  The service center list looks like it is going through a website update but the contact info to the service centers is there.  Perhaps its not made explicit enough, but I think Mooney has always sold parts through the MSCs.  

[AIREMATT]

 

1 hour ago, Jonny said:

The new Mooney website is up and running, take a look and jump in.

Click and go!!

https://mooney.com

[MooneyMitch]

Bravo Jonny!   Or maybe he should receive a standing Ovation!  Possibly receive Acclaim for his efforts......... regardless, congratulations on a positive step forward for the Mooney brand. 

[aviatoreb]

I really like it.  Its very friendly.

I presume the new Mooneys to order will come.

...personally I especially like the new Mooney of the Month section. 

E

[MikeOH]

Sorry, but I just can't get on the "rah-rah" bandwagon over the 'new' site.  Seems like all flash; "where's the beef?". You have to work even harder to get to the tech stuff/SBs.

[Vance Harral]

I appreciate the effort that went into the new website, and much of it looks great.  With that said, I have two constructive criticisms:

1) If strong support of existing customers is a primary goal, then access to technical documentation is the most important component of the web site.  I share Mike's opinion on this - the current implementation gets a B- from me.  I didn't have a lot of trouble finding the service bulletins, but it's a couple of clicks deep from the main page, and it's not searchable.  I'm also not particularly happy with the icon grid layout you get once you select a model.  It's slow to come up, hard to read, and requires more scrolling than necessary.  This is a common mistake on the web: prioritizing the cosmetic appearance of data sets over their actual usability.  A better approach would be a simple text table, instead of grid with icons.  More readable, more usable, less scrolling.

2) I think the Air Traffic forum is a mistake.  It's presence suggests Mooney thinks there should be an "official" Mooney discussion forum which they control, and the header introducing the forum confirms it: their terms, their login names, restricted only to owners, etc.  I'm am trying to be amicable about this rather than being a Mooneyspace bigot; but I can't help but find it off-putting.  If Mooney wants to support current owners with meaningful forum interaction, they should meet us where we are (which is here), rather than asking us to come to them.  More importantly, setting up, administrating, and moderating a web forum is a skill set I would prefer that Mooney not spend energy on.  It's a distraction from other things that are more important for the company.  Why not just partner with Mooneyspace, at least informally?  Setting up a whole different web forum strikes me as a solution in search of a problem, and something that is likely to sow discord and ill-will in the existing community.

[Matt Ward]

I really hate to pile on, but, this is very amateurish.  There are really simple errors that demonstrate a lack of attention to detail, is it "online" or "on-line", which do not bode well for conveying a leadership & credible position within a highly regulated industry such as aviation.  But more to the point, I have no idea what the site is trying to do.  It's really not obvious to me they're trying to support existing owners, they're not selling anything but shirts, and it really doesn't seem like they're trying to energize a secondary market.  And I fully agree that any partner vs. build forum debate went the wrong direction.

But really the killer to me is that they've lost any essence of what the brand stands for.  I have no idea what that copy on the home page is saying.  I don't fly a Mooney because it makes me feel like an "aviator", I fly one because they go fast on really low fuel burn.  I bet many (most?) folks agree with something pretty close to that.  It's a really functional benefit Mooney can own in the marketplace and it's got such a nice emotional attachment with the "Mooney Zoom", yet it's nowhere to be found.

You see this a lot in product relaunches.  Legacy brands get bought & sold and the essence of what made a brand great gets replaced by a newly minted MBAs impulsivity.

[ZuluZulu]

1 hour ago, Vance Harral said:

I appreciate the effort that went into the new website, and much of it looks great.  With that said, I have two constructive criticisms:

1) If strong support of existing customers is a primary goal, then access to technical documentation is the most important component of the web site.  I share Mike's opinion on this - the current implementation gets a B- from me.  I didn't have a lot of trouble finding the service bulletins, but it's a couple of clicks deep from the main page, and it's not searchable.  I'm also not particularly happy with the icon grid layout you get once you select a model.  It's slow to come up, hard to read, and requires more scrolling than necessary.  This is a common mistake on the web: prioritizing the cosmetic appearance of data sets over their actual usability.  A better approach would be a simple text table, instead of grid with icons.  More readable, more usable, less scrolling.

2) I think the Air Traffic forum is a mistake.  It's presence suggests Mooney thinks there should be an "official" Mooney discussion forum which they control, and the header introducing the forum confirms it: their terms, their login names, restricted only to owners, etc.  I'm am trying to be amicable about this rather than being a Mooneyspace bigot; but I can't help but find it off-putting.  If Mooney wants to support current owners with meaningful forum interaction, they should meet us where we are (which is here), rather than asking us to come to them.  More importantly, setting up, administrating, and moderating a web forum is a skill set I would prefer that Mooney not spend energy on.  It's a distraction from other things that are more important for the company.  Why not just partner with Mooneyspace, at least informally?  Setting up a whole different web forum strikes me as a solution in search of a problem, and something that is likely to sow discord and ill-will in the existing community.

Could not agree with these more.  Building a community as a goal in itself is completely the wrong goal, not to mention a doomed business strategy.  You're an aircraft manufacturer, not a social network.  I don't understand how as an owner I am supposed to feel supported by rolling out bizarre blogs bragging that other brands suck and a forum platform that, let's be honest, is going to be a ghost town most of the time.  If having a forum is so critical to the brand, why didn't they buy MooneySpace and rebrand it?  Social media is not what I think of when I think of good customer support.  When I think of good customer support, I think of having the parts or answers I need, delivered in a reasonable amount of time, sold at a reasonable price.  I think of innovative modifications that I can actually afford that add real value to my aircraft.  I think of a new plane I can drool over that incorporates the latest innovations of the industry yet remains true to the Mooney brand, which has always stood for the best combination of speed and efficiency.  Obviously marketing and lifestyle branding are a big part of it, just look at Cirrus.  But it has to be tied to substance.  Please spend your time on that instead of trying to be Mooney Facebook.

1 hour ago, Matt Ward said:

I really hate to pile on, but, this is very amateurish.  There are really simple errors that demonstrate a lack of attention to detail, is it "online" or "on-line", which do not bode well for conveying a leadership & credible position within a highly regulated industry such as aviation.  But more to the point, I have no idea what the site is trying to do.  It's really not obvious to me they're trying to support existing owners, they're not selling anything but shirts, and it really doesn't seem like they're trying to energize a secondary market.  And I fully agree that any partner vs. build forum debate went the wrong direction.

But really the killer to me is that they've lost any essence of what the brand stands for.  I have no idea what that copy on the home page is saying.  I don't fly a Mooney because it makes me feel like an "aviator", I fly one because they go fast on really low fuel burn.  I bet many (most?) folks agree with something pretty close to that.  It's a really functional benefit Mooney can own in the marketplace and it's got such a nice emotional attachment with the "Mooney Zoom", yet it's nowhere to be found.

You see this a lot in product relaunches.  Legacy brands get bought & sold and the essence of what made a brand great gets replaced by a newly minted MBAs impulsivity.

The copy is embarrassing.  I have no idea what that "Own It" nonsense is trying to say.  Apparently "plane" and "aircraft" are different things, and one of them is Good and the other is Bad, because reasons.  Poach someone from Cirrus's marketing department for Godsakes.

I don't want to overreact to the mere launch of a website, but I am more concerned about Mooney's viability than I was before today.  Tough crowd, eh?

[Seth]

2 hours ago, hypertech said:

I like it.  A customer / community first approach is nice to see.  I assume more details about what is on offer to buy will follow.  The service center list looks like it is going through a website update but the contact info to the service centers is there.  Perhaps its not made explicit enough, but I think Mooney has always sold parts through the MSCs.  

Correct - parts through MSC’s and there are still plenty of them.

 

-Seth

[toto]

On 12/16/2020 at 7:35 PM, Vance Harral said:

I think the Air Traffic forum is a mistake. 

It might make sense in a case where there wasn’t already a thriving community. I’d prefer if everyone was just here on MS, primarily because it has critical mass and moderators who care. 

The MAPA forum is weird and I can never find it, and I can’t stand Facebook, so my happy place would be to have all Mooney conversations on MS and call it good. 

I did make a forum account on mooney.com with my username from MS for continuity purposes (admittedly not following the forum signup rules on mooney.com), and I got a Dear John email today. So much for that..

 

[aviatoreb]

1 hour ago, toto said:

It might make sense in a case where there wasn’t already a thriving community. I’d prefer if everyone was just here on MS, primarily because it has critical mass and moderators who care. 

The MAPA forum is weird and I can never find it, and I can’t stand Facebook, so my happy place would be to have all Mooney conversations on MS and call it good. 

I did make a forum account on mooney.com with my username from MS for continuity purposes (admittedly not following the forum signup rules on mooney.com), and I got a Dear John email today. So much for that..

 

I got the same - I signed up with aviatoreb as I use here because I worked too quickly and didn't read the rules.

I will sign up again just to show solidarity, and I will use my natural name, Erik Bollt.

But I don't see myself becoming active there as I am already active here and for about 10 years.  I wouldn't want to see this nice core group get split.  I don't think we should be splitting up with another play ground since this seems to work well.

I would think and I would suggest that it would be a better idea for that new site to perhaps partner and link to this site.  That is a great way to achieve the goal of showing an active community and meet us here where we are in a very welcoming gesture.

Wow that one airplane on the Mooney of the month though, looks great!

[Danb]

29 minutes ago, aviatoreb said:

I got the same - I signed up with aviatoreb as I use here because I worked too quickly and didn't read the rules.

I will sign up again just to show solidarity, and I will use my natural name, Erik Bollt.

But I don't see myself becoming active there as I am already active here and for about 10 years.  I wouldn't want to see this nice core group get split.  I don't think we should be splitting up with another play ground since this seems to work well.

I would think and I would suggest that it would be a better idea for that new site to perhaps partner and link to this site.  That is a great way to achieve the goal of showing an active community and meet us here where we are in a very welcoming gesture.

Wow that one airplane on the Mooney of the month though, looks great!

That plane is great, you should consider getting one like that one Erik.. Happy holidays 

[Davidv]

FYI, now up on the site and deals with a few of the questions/comments on this thread:

https://www.mooney.com/december-18th-2020/

[Hank]

Just now, Davidv said:

FYI, now up on the site and deals with a few of the questions/comments on this thread:

https://www.mooney.com/december-18th-2020/

Now that's what we all needed to see!

[toto]

31 minutes ago, Hank said:

Now that's what we all needed to see!

Yep, +1 from me. 

Nice work getting out in front of it. 

Thanks for the candor @Jonny

[MikeOH]

@Jonny

Good on you, Jonny!  That was a welcome response.

Tech page link on home page is great!  Now, please work on the 'filter'; I put M20F in MODEL and it seems I get hits on docs for other models (maybe they all have overlap as I didn't go through every one).

I'm still on the fence over the need for a forum on the mooney.com site...I, too, am concerned with dilution of effort.  I do NOT want to have to check multiple fora for information.  MS is already the gold standard, IMHO.

  I recognize you have a business to run, so it's extra effort for you, or your employees to check here, but I wonder if some kind of technological solution could alert you when a relevant issue comes up here.  Say, like the @so_and_so, but would send an alert to your team directly.

Similarly, when you post new info to the mooney.com site, some kind of notification could automatically be generated here to let us know.

Since you are not, very wisely, building new aircraft at this time, WE are your market.  Why force that market to work harder?