Mooney article

[bnicolette]

Found this article this morning.  Please forgive me if it has already been posted.

http://get-aviation.com/blog/aviation-marketing/the-mooney-aircraft-corporate-a-lesson-in-marketing-and-manufacturing

[GaryP1007]

Sad reality I guess......never thought of Mooney as "your dad's/grandfather's Oldsmobile"....lol

[jetdriven]

Brett, that article is spot-on in its analysis.  Folks these days aint the same size as they were in 1956. Except one thing. Mooney had the 6-place cabin class single, the Mooney 301, in 1980-81.  But the recession hit hard, and Mooney took a partner in with the French. Those scoundrels stole the 301, put a new cabin and a turbine on that beautiful wing, and called it the TBM-700. 

Having flown the Bonanza and the Mooney, I can say if gas was 2.00$ a gallon you would see a V35B in my parking spot. But I am rather chea,  err,   frugal !!  !!

[fantom]

Quote: jetdriven

....But I am rather chea,  err,   frugal !!  !!

[jetdriven]

Hey its capitalism, right? Raid the cash from the company, load it up with debt, and file BK, blow out the shareholders, and move on.  Just business, no hard feelings brah. Look what just happened to Hawker Beechcraft.   This is really sad.

[Txbyker]

Good article.  Without a future strategy, I still like the idea for taking in existing fleets for like-new refurb.  New front cowlings would go a long way.  And an engine option to replace the Lyc 4 with something better than 200 HP.  I heard that Mooney had a two-door version to compete with Cirrus on the drawing board when the factory closed.

[AndyFromCB]

Quote: jetdriven

Brett, that article is spot-on in its analysis.  Folks these days aint the same size as they were in 1956. Except one thing. Mooney had the 6-place cabin class single, the Mooney 301, in 1980-81.  But the recession hit hard, and Mooney took a partner in with the French. Those scoundrels stole the 301, put a new cabin and a turbine on that beautiful wing, and called it the TBM-700. 

Having flown the Bonanza and the Mooney, I can say if gas was 2.00$ a gallon you would see a V35B in my parking spot. But I am rather chea,  err,   frugal !!  !!

[xftrplt]

Quote: astelmaszek

Andy

[fantom]

Quote: xftrplt

The only machines that generally don't have a Vne have an F prefix.

[MooneyMitch]

"Short term marketing carpetbagger owners did MAC in, when what was needed were designers, engineers, and investment."

I agree.  I also agree with JimR that parking my Mooney next to a Cirrus, the Mooney will stand out. 

Marketing mistakes, greed and the ecomony are all reasons dead leaves continue to gather on the factory floors and dust continues to settle on the 3 remainging Ovation/Acclaim carcasses stagnating in the factory assembly area. 

Standing in the midst of the ghost town factory, taking it all in, hits one emotionally very hard.  Imagine what it's like for the people that worked there most of their lives?

[FAST FLIGHT OPTIONS LLC]

IMHO, I think the company shooting for what Mooney should have morphed into it Pipistrel.  I truly hope they could make the Panthera a reality. 

[Oscar Avalle]

Great article...but now what?

[John Pleisse]

Interesting. I think he is right about marketing and design misteps, but it is of little consequence considering the new reality of the "China Syndrome".

[jlunseth]

Blah. Blah. Blah.

I'll be the contrarian.  There is nothing at all wrong with the airframe. There is alot of talk about Cirrus having squeezed out the Mooney, but I see more Mooneys in parking lots than I see Cirrus, and the Cirrus has a reputation for high cost repairs and for being accident prone even with the chute.

The only part of that pablum I agree with, is that Mooney should have, or should in the future, develop a larger aircraft with a bigger payload.  Imagine a six place Mooney!  That would be a real airplane.  Well, come to think of it it would be a Piper Mirage, but if it were a Mooney it would be faster and more economical.

[aviatoreb]

Quote: Bnicolette

Found this article this morning.  Please forgive me if it has already been posted.

http://get-aviation.com/blog/aviation-marketing/the-mooney-aircraft-corporate-a-lesson-in-marketing-and-manufacturing

[Gilt]

http://www.mooneyevents.com/Mooney301.html

[carqwik]

Agree...and its not clear that Cessna makes a ton of money on its piston line of planes.  But it was Russ Meyer who pushed for restart of the piston line (with Clinton's signing of the GA Revitalization Act) since Cessna discovered that something like 40% of Cessna jet buyers had learned to fly in a Cessna piston airplane.  Meyer understood that for his entry level jets, it was key to keep bringing new owners into the market by getting them started with pistons....and some would make it to jets eventually even if they dropped out of piloting themselves.  In effect, it was a pipeline for future jet sales and that's where the profits can be found.  He didn't have to make money on pistons...the profits would come in the future from jet sales.

Mooney lacked a strong corporate parent, a limited product line, and a super expensive hand labor build process.  Cirrus handlily outsold Mooney but it brought a new type of owner to the market - one that needed spousal buy in which was gained with the chute.  But its product line has now hit the wall and without Chinese ownership, Cirrus would be gone too.  Beech may exit the piston market too depending on who buys the company.  I recall that the Sultan of Brunei (or an affiliated investment company) now owns Piper...otherwise they'd be gone. 

I'd also point out that Alan Klapmeier has moved on to turboprops.  I'd bet if he thought there was a future in pistons, he'd have gone that direction...

For owners of Mooneys, it's now important to keep the factory making parts and keeping the TC's alive.  We have to introduce pilots to the virtues of the Mooney airframe...and that support is and will be available in the future.  But new Mooney airframes are highly unlikely unless a rich guy comes along and wants to turn $100MM into $10MM.

[aviatoreb]

Quote: carqwik

Agree...and its not clear that Cessna makes a ton of money on its piston line of planes.  But it was Russ Meyer who pushed for restart of the piston line (with Clinton's signing of the GA Revitalization Act) since Cessna discovered that something like 40% of Cessna jet buyers had learned to fly in a Cessna piston airplane.  Meyer understood that for his entry level jets, it was key to keep bringing new owners into the market by getting them started with pistons....and some would make it to jets eventually even if they dropped out of piloting themselves.  In effect, it was a pipeline for future jet sales and that's where the profits can be found.  He didn't have to make money on pistons...the profits would come in the future from jet sales.

Mooney lacked a strong corporate parent, a limited product line, and a super expensive hand labor build process.  Cirrus handlily outsold Mooney but it brought a new type of owner to the market - one that needed spousal buy in which was gained with the chute.  But its product line has now hit the wall and without Chinese ownership, Cirrus would be gone too.  Beech may exit the piston market too depending on who buys the company.  I recall that the Sultan of Brunei (or an affiliated investment company) now owns Piper...otherwise they'd be gone. 

I'd also point out that Alan Klapmeier has moved on to turboprops.  I'd bet if he thought there was a future in pistons, he'd have gone that direction...

For owners of Mooneys, it's now important to keep the factory making parts and keeping the TC's alive.  We have to introduce pilots to the virtues of the Mooney airframe...and that support is and will be available in the future.  But new Mooney airframes are highly unlikely unless a rich guy comes along and wants to turn $100MM into $10MM.

[Mcstealth]

There are actually three production lines at the Kerrville factory, though they only utilized all three in the 'heyday' of production.

Think about it. A 201 refurb on shorter outside line side, the Acclaim on the inside, and the new six seater in the middle.

 

Just dreaming.

[mooneyflyer]

Here's what Bob Kromer wrote about the Future of Mooney.... in the July Issue of THE MOONEY FLYER

 

The Future of Mooney Aircraft Corporation

by Bob Kromer

Mooney Executive Vice President and General Manager 1986-1991

Mooney Engineering Test Pilot 1983-1986

Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association Executive Director 1997-2000

It is with great interest that those of us with passion and loyalty to Mooney airplanes

have followed the status of the Mooney factory in Kerrville. Not only from a vested

interest in the need for spare parts, but also from a perspective of “Can the factory make a comeback?”

It might be tempting, but making a return by building new Mooneys with price tags well north of $500,000

seems to be the wrong strategy. That market is saturated - and expensive. Unfortunately, those prices are

a reality in today’s world of building, selling and supporting new high performance, single-engine airplanes.

Can’t there be something better than this for the Mooney factory to return from its current state of

inactivity?

There might be. During my tenure at the Mooney factory, we looked very closely into the idea of

refurbishing existing Mooney airplanes to like-new condition. In the back door would roll a 2000-3000 hour

Mooney and out front door would roll a like-new Mooney. Everything would be new on the airplane, done

at the factory by the very same people who built it. New paint, interior, glass avionics, engine, propeller,

resealed fuel tanks and numerous systems updates. The only item not zero-timed would be the airframe,

but it would be carefully inspected and any structural discrepancies would be corrected. Except for the

time on the airframe, the airplane would look, smell and fly like new. A 12 month spinner-to-tail warranty

would also be included.

We didn’t execute this refurbishment strategy in the late 80’s and early 90’s because we were still building

new airplanes. Frankly, the refurbished airplanes would be too much competition for the new ones. The

refurbished airplanes would have identical performance and features at one-half the price. Say goodbye to

new airplane sales. But the factory today is idle. It doesn’t build new airplanes. Its doors and floor space

are open for a new business direction. The time has never been better for executing a factoryrefurbishment

program.

In the majority of my time in Kerrville, we built the M20J and the M20K (252). Two wonderful airplanes. As

Mooney’s engineering test pilot from ’83- ‘86, I always felt these two airplanes represented the optimum

combination of Mooney airframe and engine size. Flight test data always confirmed this. More powerful

engines are always nice, but with fuel prices high and going higher, there’s a lot to be said for those superefficient

201 and 252 models.

I have been discussing this M20J and M20K factory refurbishment idea with Phil Corman. He is

enthusiastic, but questions remain. What’s the best (but realistic) price point for a factory-refurbished, likenew

M20J? How about an M20K? Are these, in fact, the correct models for the factory refurbishment

program? Glass or mechanical instrumentation and avionics? New or overhauled engines?

Phil has put together a short questionnaire that will hopefully discover some answers to these questions.

Your help is highly coveted and appreciated. And, it will create jobs for a great group of former employees

who know and love Mooney airplanes as much as anyone. If you have the

 

[marks]

We are losing pilots for all GA. Used aircraft sell for less and less. The problem has much more to do with the price of gas than the price of Mooneys. Undoubtedly there are many other reasons we are losing pilots and I believe the reasons are beyond the control of the general aviation community. Even if Mooney never builds new airplanes I hope there are enough in the field to keep us flying and allow us to upgrade as the years go by. These planes could last a very long time.