Boots on the Ground: the Men & Women who Made Mooney, trailer

[mooneygirl]

In the fall of 2011 Mitch had the idea to interview the workers at the Mooney Airplane Company to document their stories for generations to come.
Boots on the Ground: the Men and Women Who Made Mooney is the result.  The DVD will be premiered at the Mooney Aircraft Pilots Association- MAPA Homecoming April 10-12, 2014 at Kerrville Texas, Home of Mooney.
Through the generosity of the executives at Mooney, we were able to have unparalleled access to the Mooney factory including the highly secret Skunk Works [Mooney R&D, testing grounds].  Through the generosity of spirit of the factory workers, we have amassed 15 hours of video.  
The Mooney Ambassadors are pleased to present a little taste of the fun we had filming and learning from the men and women who made Mooney.

In the final product we will have interviews with folks who worked 20-50+ years at Mooney, plus a bonus DVD with extended interviews with Bill Wheat [engineer, test pilot] and Mike Miles [test pilot], among others.

 

http://youtu.be/y6s_ZvnHYdo

 

Thank you for watching.  For more information about the Mooney Ambassadors, please visit our website: www.MooneyAmbassadors.com
Our three part mission is to Support Mooney Airplane Company, to Promote General Aviation, and to have Someplace Wonderful to Fly.

© Mooney Ambassadors 2012-2015  No part of this video may be distributed or copied without express written consent of the Mooney Ambassadors.

 

[bnicolette]

Well that's just not right.  Now we've got to wait nearly a year to see the rest?

 

Seriously you guys are awesome and I can't wait to see the finished product!  

[mooneygirl]

You crack me up!  We are showing more of a trailer at OSH, but not much more. And for those who attended MAPA last year, they got to see 18 minutes! HA.

[Marauder]

Since you are staying linked into the folks at the factory, any word on Bill Wheat? I know he was having some health issues.

[jezzie]

Can't wait to see the finished product. Did I ever send you all the still pictures I took of the 2 of you filming in Kerrville in Mar 2012? I'll have to dig into my archives and look at them again.

[mooneygirl]

Hey Eldon, I don't think you did send us the photos. Maybe put on a card for OSH?

The last information I have on Bill Wheat is from Chad Nelson, a VP at Mooney. He said that Bill is no longer working at Dugosh after his stroke.  I believe that is his doing okay, but knowing Bill he would say "terrible!".

[rainman]

Sweet! Can't wait to get the final product. Thanks for doing this. Ray

[PTK]

This is excellent! Thank you for your work and effort that you put into this production!

It is an awesome preview, can't wait for the rest!

Bill Wheat is awesome. Always there to offer his advice and vast Mooney knowledge.

Makes me love my Mooney that much more!

[carusoam]

Bill wheat was a prize to speak with on the phone. He shared his knowledge openly.

Looking forward to the rest of it.

Best regards,

-a-

[HopePilot]

Looking forward to seeing this.

[fantom]

A worthy endeavor, indeed. Editing 15 hours of video will be no easy task. I remember you guys working hard to film a lot at MAPA last year.

Can't wait to see the finished product.

[MooneyMitch]

.........and as we continue editing, I noticed this trailer states the DVD will be premiered Spring 2013...............whoops!  That would be Spring 2014. 

[fantom]

 

.........and as we continue editing, I noticed this trailer states the DVD will be premiered Spring 2013...............whoops!  That would be Spring 2014. 

 

A little slippage is normal in the movie making business. Since MAPA was cancelled this year, it doesn't count as a delay anyway!

[TWinter]

Love seeing the passion. When I bought my Mooney I must admit I did not realize the personal relationship and following that the Mooney brand has. I puchased based on the build and specs, not so much the brand or following,

 

I have had the plane for over a year now and have been consumed with the passion of Mooney and its history. When somebody asks me what kind of plane I fly? Well, I puff up and with a big grin say, "MOONEY". The longer I have the plane the prouder I am that I fly a Mooney. As long as we can get parts and service I will always be a Mooniac and support the Mooney passion . I'm always looking for Mooney "stuff". My mancave, license plate, keychains, wall banners etc are nothing but Mooney. I'm anxious for the final DVD production. Great job

[mooneygirl]

Righto Gary, Spring of 2014. If I edit it now the link will be bad.  Good eye.

[mooneygirl]

Tom, I will have some Moo-drives available at OSH. They are a keychain Mooney with a cool thumb drive hidden in them.  $20. 

[Mcstealth]

I have a Mr Witt who was a 40ry employee interested in sending in a story or two. My dad was not so interested I'm sorry to say.

 

I got a story out of him. When they first pressurized the Mustang prototype, the sides expanded so much that rivets blew out like bullets, hitting the roof, floor, and anything that was it the line of fire. People were ducking for cover. The engineer sitting inside the cabin measuring the expansion said the pressure capsule expanded over five inches!!!!

 

Fun stuff.

 

David

[co2bruce]

Kind of just a cruel tease!

[MooneyMitch]

Herbie Witt is one of the stars of Boots On The Ground. He is in the trailer . David, thank you for your dad' story. See you at MAPA next spring. Looking forward to that great steak!

[KSMooniac]

I have a Mr Witt who was a 40ry employee interested in sending in a story or two. My dad was not so interested I'm sorry to say.

 

I got a story out of him. When they first pressurized the Mustang prototype, the sides expanded so much that rivets blew out like bullets, hitting the roof, floor, and anything that was it the line of fire. People were ducking for cover. The engineer sitting inside the cabin measuring the expansion said the pressure capsule expanded over five inches!!!!

 

Fun stuff.

 

David

 

Awesome work so far!  Waiting until next spring will be tough!

 

I heard an interesting story third-hand about flight test results during the Malibu development.  Engineers noticed that test pilot A would always end up with 3-4 knot faster cruise speeds than test pilot B, even flying identical test flights.  It took a lot of investigation regarding pilot techniques, power settings, etc. until they finally realized that one pilot always flew without pressurization!  The pressurization produced enough deflection of the fuselage to increase the drag by a measurable amount!

[mooneygirl]

Here is a little taste of the fun!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsqCAnHlYDo

Please join us on Thursday April 10th, the first night of MAPA Homecoming,  at the Mooney Airplane factory for the premiere of Boots on the Ground: the Men and Women who made Mooney. We will gather at 6:30 p.m. with the movie starting about 7:15. All are welcome. Commemorative DVDs with a limited edition Ambassador/Boots T-shirt will be for sale at the event.

Boots on the Ground project began in the winter of 2011.  Our goal was collect as many stories as possible on video from the workers in the Mooney factory.  The result are stories from folks who worked at Mooney for 20-50 plus years.
We were given unparallelled access to the factory and enjoyed tremendous support from the staff that was present while the company was in hibernation.
We are thrilled that Mooney is back in production in 2014 making the Acclaim type S which is the world's fastest piston single in production.
So come and support Mooney and enjoy Boots on the Ground.  DVDs will also be for sale at MAPA's website: www.MooneyPilots.com

Thank you for your support

Mitch and Jolie


For more information about the Mooney Ambassadors please go to www.MooneyAmbassadors.com

[carusoam]

Very interesting Jolie and Mitch!

I had the pleasure of speaking with Bill Wheat regarding the operation of my M20C. In 2000, I called to ask a question, he came to the phone!

Nice to see him in Boots on the Ground.

Best regards,

-a-

[mooneygirl]

We have lots of footage of Bill Wheat [53 years at Mooney] Herbie Witt [48 years] and Stanley Feller [50+ years].  Their knowledge and stories are really a treasure. I love that they call me Miss Jolie.  That Texas-charm!

Bill thinks I should sneak a few kegs of beer into the premiere!  Hmmm, that might just be the ticket!

[mooneygirl]

Boots on the Ground: the Men and Women who made Mooney Premier DVD will be available at the MAPA convention April 10-12th at Kerrville Texas.  $30 includes the double DVD and commemorative t-shirt.  For those not able to attend MAPA, the DVDs will be available on both the Ambassador and MAPA websites.

 

The Boots Premiere will be held at the MAPA hangar at KERV.  We will gather at 6:30 p.m. with the movie starting about 7:15 p.m.  We were going to be at the factory but since they are back in production the happy news is they are using all their space over there!  So we will be over at the airport in the MAPA hangar. We thank Trey and Lela Hughes for the hospitality!

 

We look forward to seeing all our friends in April.

 

[fantom]

After the years of effort you and Mitch put into this film, unfortunate it's not eligible for an Academy award this weekend, Jolie A labor of love, I'm sure, that we can't wait to view.

MAPA has a hanger????