New Mooneys

[Flymu2]

Is Mooney manufacturing/selling new airplanes?

[Schllc]

They apparently have one acclaim ultra that they are threatening to finish.  I don't know if this will actually happen, but I know they have the airframe mostly completed.

[ZuluZulu]

They probably will if you pay them all the money up front and agree to wait a while. 

[Danb]

Sounds like another plane for Ray…

[Fly Boomer]

1 hour ago, Flymu2 said:

Is Mooney manufacturing/selling new airplanes?

Short answer is "no".

[Schllc]

32 minutes ago, ZuluZulu said:

They probably will if you pay them all the money up front and agree to wait a while. 

you would think that, but when an inquiry for a quote goes unanswered.....

[ZuluZulu]

Just now, Schllc said:

you would think that, but when an inquiry for a quote goes unanswered.....

Fair point. “Probably” might have been a bit too optimistic…

[A64Pilot]

Depending on where they are FAA wise a production re-start may not be painless. I’m sure they didn’t surrender their Production Certificate, but the FAA may not look to kindly at them producing one airplane.

Depends on the day their MIDO is having.

They may not have a DMIR (designated manufacturers inspection representative) etc. if they aren’t building airplanes there is no need for a DMIR

[glbtrottr]

The factory really breaks my heart. Some genuinely nice people. Maaaaaany have left at all levels. Engineering talent, support talent, service talent…

Then we have a recent CEO who comes here clamoring for change and pleading for support, and then crickets….

Chinese money corrupts everything it touches.

[LANCECASPER]

On 12/1/2023 at 3:50 PM, A64Pilot said:

Depending on where they are FAA wise a production re-start may not be painless. I’m sure they didn’t surrender their Production Certificate, but the FAA may not look to kindly at them producing one airplane.

Depends on the day their MIDO is having.

They may not have a DMIR (designated manufacturers inspection representative) etc. if they aren’t building airplanes there is no need for a DMIR

I believe that's Kevin Kammer, who is also in charge of Quality and is their Test Pilot. 

[kortopates]

The factory really breaks my heart. ….

Chinese money corrupts everything it touches.

Chinese investment in Mooney resurrected the factory, brought back production, provided for many factory infrastructure improvements and started development of a new trainer aircraft. All at the expense of many millions that were poured into Mooney yet Veronica (Chinese investor) got virtually nothing beyond a handful of Mooney aircraft in China.
No question the factory was far better off from it - not corrupted!


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[KSMooniac]

Paul is correct.  There is not really a downside to the Chinese investment and operational period.  I worked for them as a consultant engineer for a spell during this time, and thought Jerry Chen had a GREAT vision for Mooney, and he found money to execute that vision.  The way I heard the story, he went knocking on doors and had a list of 15 or so potential investors, and he finally hit on #15.  I loved the idea of the M10 and thought it could have been a great product for the current market, especially with the surge in primary training, but I think it fell apart with a very poor initial design effort that was largely done by an inexperienced crew and they locked in some bad features and doomed the plane.  There was a vision that went well beyond the M10 and it could have really revitalized the brand and secured the future.  Unfortunately the M10 failure put an end to all of that and we are where we are, again.  At least the Kerrville facility got some improvements and we got the Ultras to market.

[toto]

I don’t think I’m adding much to what’s already been said, but Mooney today is primarily owned by a private equity group from Wyoming. The CEO is a Mooney Acclaim owner and pilot, but this isn’t his day job.

I believe that the Meijing group owns only a small share of the business now. 

[MooneyMitch]

4 hours ago, kortopates said:

 

Chinese investment in Mooney resurrected the factory, brought back production, provided for many factory infrastructure improvements and started development of a new trainer aircraft. All at the expense of many millions that were poured into Mooney yet Veronica (Chinese investor) got virtually nothing beyond a handful of Mooney aircraft in China.
No question the factory was far better off from it - not corrupted!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

That truly was a great and exciting time with great hope!  And yes, the factory is in a better place.

[GeeBee]

The M10 is mimicked by the new Cirrus trainer

The M22 was an early Piper Malibu

The 301 became a hit seller as the TBM

One thing you can say about Mooney regardless of their owner. They never miss an opportunity.....to miss an opportunity.

[Hank]

1 minute ago, GeeBee said:

The M10 is mimicked by the new Cirrus trainer

The M22 was an early Piper Malibu

The 301 became a hit seller as the TBM

One thing you can say about Mooney regardless of their owner. They never miss an opportunity.....to miss an opportunity.

They are consistently ahead of their time . . . .

[GeeBee]

If you are ahead of time, it means nothing if you can't monetize it. Ask the Duryea Motor Wagon Company.

 

[1980Mooney]

2 hours ago, toto said:

I don’t think I’m adding much to what’s already been said, but Mooney today is primarily owned by a private equity group from Wyoming. The CEO is a Mooney Acclaim owner and pilot, but this isn’t his day job.

I believe that the Meijing group owns only a small share of the business now. 

Correct.  In 2020, multiple sources announced that Meijing Group sold 80% of Mooney to U.S. Financial (a Wyoming financial entity that remains hidden behind Wyoming's corporate laws) with Meijing keeping 20%.  

• https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2020/september/03/pilots-aircraft-owners-buy-mooney-international
• https://www.australianflying.com.au/latest/pilots-and-owners-buy-out-mooney-international
• https://themooneyflyer.com/issues/2020-OctTMF.pdf   See page 3

In November 2019, after the factory shut down,  AVweb published "We don’t know the terms of the Meijing deal, but the company has admitted to at least a $150 million capital infusion. That’s not trivial. "

• https://www.avweb.com/insider/mooneys-last-act/

I  doubt that Meijing made all their entire "capital infusion" in the form of equity in Mooney.  More likely they did much of it in the form of debt - a crushing debt which Mooney Int'l has on the Corporate balance sheet and owes to Meijing today.   That would explain why Jonny and US Financial were out marketing the company in late 2021 attempting to flip it (with the debt) to a new owner.

[toto]

In case anyone is interested in the 2021 slide deck, it's a pretty interesting read:

https://mooneyspace.com/topic/40216-mooney-factory-for-sale/?do=findComment&comment=693779