Lasar & Mooney

[M20F]

Anyone know what the deal is?

Mooney Facebook Group
 

[NickG]

Just saw this on the FB group. Is this the end for Mooney?

[takair]

Sounds like LASAR will be their parts distributor?

[MikeOH]

1 hour ago, NickG said:

Just saw this on the FB group. Is this the end for Mooney?

I doubt it, not anymore than in Mooney's storied and checkered past

My take is that Mooney is not staffed to handle the order taking/processing from various MSC and LASAR is just taking over those front-end functions.  I doubt it is going to be good for prices, however

[IvanP]

LASAR folks have been helpful in sourcing parts in the past, albeit with premium pricing. As with other situations where supply chain is consolidated, prices will likely go up. 

[DCarlton]

With the consolidation, maybe LASAR can afford (lower risk) to stock more parts instead of waiting until they have enough orders to support a production run.  

[Fix]

I assume it will be both good and bad...

Good: Since Lasar has good knowledge about Mooney parts, and good service.

Bad: I saw their markup on a part I bought from them, that Mooney sent directly to me and forgot to remove the invoice.
So the prices will most likley go up 50%...
 

Edited July 9 by Fix

[47U]

Apropos?  Looking at Kerrville on my iPad map app, I noticed this.  Talk about downsizing… but I didn’t think it could be this dire.  

[flyboy0681]

Was the airport/facility affected by the flooding?

[1980Mooney]

35 minutes ago, flyboy0681 said:

Was the airport/facility affected by the flooding?

Not according to this. 

 

[1980Mooney]

19 hours ago, MikeOH said:

I doubt it, not anymore than in Mooney's storied and checkered past

My take is that Mooney is not staffed to handle the order taking/processing from various MSC and LASAR is just taking over those front-end functions.  I doubt it is going to be good for prices, however

If Lasar is taking over those “front-end” functions previously done at Mooney Int’l then that would also mean that Mooney is further reducing staff in Kerrville. 

[GeeBee]

It is obvious the no back spring from Lasar was a test for the new business model. I am not surprised this happened. It will be better parrts availability albeit at higher prices. It is better to have parts you can source than no parts at all. I wish everyone sucess in this new arrangement. 

[LANCECASPER]

9 hours ago, 47U said:

Apropos?  Looking at Kerrville on my iPad map app, I noticed this.  Talk about downsizing… but I didn’t think it could be this dire.  

 

Completely incorrect

 

They are still in the same buildings

[47U]

24 minutes ago, LANCECASPER said:

Completely incorrect

 

They are still in the same buildings

Absolutely… I wasn’t trying to suggest that Mooney is working out of shed on the back lot.  

But, you get the irony.  Mooney farming out some of the parts procurement to LASAR, seemingly under constant threat of financial stress.  I hope the deal with LASAR provides a percentage back to the factory for the parts they sell.  

The reason the app puts the name of the factory right over the shed is puzzling.  Conspiracy alert… the chicom investors  hacked in with an algorithm, just out of spite. 

[LANCECASPER]

On 7/8/2025 at 5:28 PM, M20F said:

Anyone know what the deal is?

Mooney Facebook Group
 

Personally I think with Mooney's situation now they should have gone the other direction and should have opened up their online ordering system that the MSCs use now and started selling any parts that they sell at full retail price to any customer that orders. 

Mooney Service Centers make the vast majority of their money on labor, that's not going change. MSCs could have still marked the parts up further. But Mooney needs to make more money, not less by selling everything through a Distributor. They are giving up the margin between distributor cost and retail.

That would require capital to carry some inventory, but with a well-written business plan they could have pulled together the money for that.

[IvanP]

4 hours ago, GeeBee said:

It is obvious the no back spring from Lasar was a test for the new business model. I am not surprised this happened. It will be better parrts availability albeit at higher prices. It is better to have parts you can source than no parts at all. I wish everyone sucess in this new arrangement. 

I would be curious as to how many of those $2,000 springs they sold. Making parts exorbitantly expensive is a good way to kill the entire fleet of Mooneys by atrition.  While most of us are arguably willing to pay inflated prices to keep out toys going, I think that there are limits to our willingness to do so. The recent wave of consolidations of part sources, supply chain issues, and skyrocketing prices are certainly testing mine.    

Edited July 10 by IvanP

[toto]

25 minutes ago, IvanP said:

I would be curious as to how many of those $2,000 springs they sold. Making parts exorbitantly expensive is a good way to kill the entire fleet of Mooneys by atrition.  While most of us are arguably willing to pay inflated prices to keep out toys going, I think that there are limits to our willingness to do so. The recent wave of consolidations of part sources, supply chain issues, and skyrocketing prices are certainly testing mine.    

Weren’t they $3000 from Lasar?

[GeeBee]

1 hour ago, IvanP said:

I would be curious as to how many of those $2,000 springs they sold. Making parts exorbitantly expensive is a good way to kill the entire fleet of Mooneys by atrition.  While most of us are arguably willing to pay inflated prices to keep out toys going, I think that there are limits to our willingness to do so. The recent wave of consolidations of part sources, supply chain issues, and skyrocketing prices are certainly testing mine.    

I know of two kits sold. I got the 2500 dollar variety. One sits on my shelf, the other was installed in my friend's Mooney. That said, I recently purchased some Mooney parts through LASAR and found them quite reasonable. If you are worried about parts prices you could always look at our friends with Textron products, in particular Beechcraft and take comfort you own a Mooney.

[MikeOH]

50 minutes ago, IvanP said:

I would be curious as to how many of those $2,000 springs they sold. Making parts exorbitantly expensive is a good way to kill the entire fleet of Mooneys by atrition. 

Honestly, this is what concerns me more than anything.  I fly for enjoyment, not need.  Yeah, it's expensive but has been worth the money to me....so far.

I'm really not sure how I will handle a usurious price like $3,000 for a tiny one-way spring clutch (no back spring); that's NOT in any way a justifiable price, even for aviation, when based on actual costs. I don't care how low volume.  That is simple greed to a market that has no choice.  Sure, it's capitalism, but to act as if it is not avaricious is absurd.

As my plane would be grounded, the decision would be whether to sell as-is, or spend the money and then sell.  If that was the ONLY part being priced that way, then I might suck it up.  But if LASAR is going to implement this kind of 'whatever the market will bear' strategy for all Mooney parts then people like me WILL sell.

Sure, some of you will react with, "Can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen" response.  The question becomes, how many owners of 30-50 year old Mooneys fly for a real need and can just 'suck it up' as a hobby expense.  You are correct; it will kill the entire fleet.  There will be fewer and fewer buyers that will take on that kind of maintenance risk on an old aircraft. Prices will fall, and we will have a death-spiral.  Well off owners will just 'trade-up' or, more likely, just purchase another brand.  In other words, even the wealthy are NOT going to accept getting ripped off when parts prices rise to some exorbitant level, even if they can afford it.

I don't believe LASAR of old (Paul and Sherry Lowen) would have implemented this strategy.  It would seem the new owners are more interested in near-term maximum profits and don't really care if the fleet, and their part sales, are dead in future years.  It's like the corporate raiders: go in, cut staff/expense, raise prices, drive the company under but make a killing doing so.  I believe the new owners already had a going business, so this could just be a temporary way to extra, but short term, additional profit.

Let's hope not.

 

 

[GeeBee]

8 minutes ago, MikeOH said:

Honestly, this is what concerns me more than anything.  I fly for enjoyment, not need.  Yeah, it's expensive but has been worth the money to me....so far.

I'm really not sure how I will handle a usurious price like $3,000 for a tiny one-way spring clutch (no back spring); that's NOT in any way a justifiable price, even for aviation, when based on actual costs. I don't care how low volume.  That is simple greed to a market that has no choice.  Sure, it's capitalism, but to act as if it is not avaricious is absurd.

As my plane would be grounded, the decision would be whether to sell as-is, or spend the money and then sell.  If that was the ONLY part being priced that way, then I might suck it up.  But if LASAR is going to implement this kind of 'whatever the market will bear' strategy for all Mooney parts then people like me WILL sell.

Sure, some of you will react with, "Can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen" response.  The question becomes, how many owners of 30-50 year old Mooneys fly for a real need and can just 'suck it up' as a hobby expense.  You are correct; it will kill the entire fleet.  There will be fewer and fewer buyers that will take on that kind of maintenance risk on an old aircraft. Prices will fall, and we will have a death-spiral.  Well off owners will just 'trade-up' or, more likely, just purchase another brand.  In other words, even the wealthy are NOT going to accept getting ripped off when parts prices rise to some exorbitant level, even if they can afford it.

I don't believe LASAR of old (Paul and Sherry Lowen) would have implemented this strategy.  It would seem the new owners are more interested in near-term maximum profits and don't really care if the fleet, and their part sales, are dead in future years.  It's like the corporate raiders: go in, cut staff/expense, raise prices, drive the company under but make a killing doing so.  I believe the new owners already had a going business, so this could just be a temporary way to extra, but short term, additional profit.

Let's hope not.

 

 

I think you are accusing people of things not in evidence. While the no-back springs were pricey, you have no idea what Lasar paid for them, what the manufacturer charged etc. In addition there is the fundamental value of money. If I spend 100K to buy a 1 year inventory, I want an ROI of at least 30% which means I have to make up that 100k to account for overhead (building, grounds, shipping,  labor, insurance, taxes). IOW after all those expenses are paid, I want free and clear 30K otherwise there is no point in being in business. I don't see the folks at LASAR getting rich, in fact they seem to be making a modest living. As to charging whatever the market will bear, that is capitalism in a nutshell. Sorry to break it to you but this is how business works, not just LASAR but everyone. No one is in business so you can putt-putt around in your airplane. Sure they love airplanes just like you but their first responsibility is to those who put up the capital for the business. This is not a hobby, it is business.

[IvanP]

1 hour ago, MikeOH said:

I don't believe LASAR of old (Paul and Sherry Lowen) would have implemented this strategy.  

I have dealt with Paul, Sherry and their staff on many occasions before their retirement. Great people who built a successful business not by ripping people off but by sharing their love for airplanes and flying with others. While they were never cheap, I never got the impression that I was being ripped off. 

I do not know much about the new LASAR, except that I was able to get some hard to find parts through them, albeit at premium pricing. Heather has been a great help and very responsive to questions even if some of her research did not result in a sale. I sincerely hope that LASAR will continue to support the fleet while being somewhat reasonable. There is nothing wrong with making profit, but there si also nothing wrong with being reasonable when running a business. It is a balance that many business owners struggle to find. You charge too littlle and the business will fail becasue you do not make enough to survive, you charge too much and the business will fail because your customers will leave you. Businesses with captive market have the short-term advantage of being able to charge whatever they see fit, but that may not last very long.  

[Bolter]

Most importantly, will we be able to buy Mooney branded clothing again?

[MikeOH]

56 minutes ago, GeeBee said:

I think you are accusing people of things not in evidence. While the no-back springs were pricey, you have no idea what Lasar paid for them, what the manufacturer charged etc. In addition there is the fundamental value of money. If I spend 100K to buy a 1 year inventory, I want an ROI of at least 30% which means I have to make up that 100k to account for overhead (building, grounds, shipping,  labor, insurance, taxes). IOW after all those expenses are paid, I want free and clear 30K otherwise there is no point in being in business. I don't see the folks at LASAR getting rich, in fact they seem to be making a modest living. As to charging whatever the market will bear, that is capitalism in a nutshell. Sorry to break it to you but this is how business works, not just LASAR but everyone. No one is in business so you can putt-putt around in your airplane. Sure they love airplanes just like you but their first responsibility is to those who put up the capital for the business. This is not a hobby, it is business.

While you are certainly entitled to your opinion, you have no more evidence their pricing is fair and that they are 'making a modest living' than what you accuse me of.

Of course you completely ignored my point about LASAR having a MONOPOLY.  You can tout the tired "that is capitalism" all you like, but there are good reasons for anti-trust laws.  I guess you think the government should never have imposed any?

[Schllc]

In the grand scheme of things, this may well be the best possible outcome. 
mooney is apparently trying to let someone else manage the sales and distribution.

this will likely save them money, and therefore cost us more, but it would seem that the the alternative would be nothing.  
I can agree the feeling of being taken advantage of is about the worst feeling you can have, and loathe it as well, but if the abuse is genuinely that bad, the purveyors won’t last. 

[1980Mooney]

14 hours ago, 47U said:

Apropos?  Looking at Kerrville on my iPad map app, I noticed this.  Talk about downsizing… but I didn’t think it could be this dire.  

 

4 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

Completely incorrect

They are still in the same buildings

True but Mooney International owns no buildings or land in Kerr County.  They operate out of leased facilities (hangar, offices, manufacturing space) on long term lease from the City and County.  Go look at the Kerr County Central Appraisal District property search.  Their largest asset is inventory at $1.72 million.  Next is their machinery and equipment valued at $1.53 million.  They have made some leasehold improvements on the leased facilities which they have capitalized.  If they downsize further and move manufacturing to a smaller facility, then those building improvement investments become worthless since they stay with the City and County facilities.