The Mooney International Corporation (formerly Mooney Aviation Company, Inc. and the Mooney Aircraft Company) is an American aircraft manufacturer based in

Kerrville, Texas Kerrville is a city in, and the county seat of, Kerr County, Texas, Kerr County, Texas, United States. The population of Kerrville was 24,278 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Kerrville is named after James Kerr (Texas politi ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It manufactures single-engined piston-powered

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

aircraft. Through its history the company has had many American owners and subsequent bankruptcies. Mooney International was purchased in 2013 by a Chinese private equity, real-estate development company, the Meijing Group who ran it until 2020, when it was purchased by a group of Mooney aircraft owners under US Financial, LLC of

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

. Among Mooney's achievements are: the first pressurized single-engined, piston-powered aircraft, the M22 Mustang, production of the fastest civilian single-engine piston-powered aircraft in the world, the M20TN Acclaim Type S, the first production aircraft to achieve on , the M20J 201 and the fastest transcontinental flight in a single-engine piston-powered production aircraft, the M20K 231. Many Mooney aircraft have the signature

vertical stabilizer A vertical stabilizer or tail fin is the static part of the vertical tail of an aircraft. The term is commonly applied to the assembly of both this fixed surface and one or more movable rudders hinged to it. Their role is to provide control, sta ...

with its vertical

leading edge The leading edge of an airfoil surface such as a wing is its foremost edge and is therefore the part which first meets the oncoming air.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, ...

and swept

trailing edge The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge meets.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 521. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. ...

that gives the illusion of being forward-swept.

History

The company was founded in 1929 by Albert Mooney and his brother Arthur. Albert Mooney had his first job in aviation at the age of 19 in 1925 when he worked briefly for

Alexander Aircraft Company The Alexander Aircraft Company was an aircraft manufacturer in Colorado in 1925. History Founding The company began life as an offshoot of the Alexander Film Company that specialized in film advertising, and the younger J. Don Alexander decide ...

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He worked for the Marshall/Montague Monoplane Company in

Marshall, Missouri Marshall is a city in Saline County, Missouri, Saline County, Missouri, United States. The population was 13,065 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Saline County. The Marshall Micropolitan Statistical Area consists of Saline County. It ...

, in 1926, but the company had financial difficulties, and Al soon returned to Alexander, where he designed the

Alexander Bullet Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

. He was joined by his brother Arthur, known as Art. Early in 1929 Al was invited to meet with some financial backers in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

, and the Mooney Aircraft Corporation was established with financial backing from the Bridgeport Machine Company. The company owned an airfield and some buildings which could be used to design and build aircraft. Seven months later, Albert's M-5 airplane was test-flown. Due to the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, the Mooney Aircraft Corporation went bankrupt in 1930. The Mooney brothers worked for other aircraft companies, including the

Culver Aircraft Company The Culver Aircraft Company was an American aircraft manufacturer of light aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s. History The Dart Manufacturing Corporation was founded in Columbus, Ohio, by Monocoupe dealer Knight K. Culver and Al Mooney to purchase t ...

, from then through

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. On June 18, 1948, Albert started Mooney Aircraft Incorporated in Wichita, along with Charles Yankey, Art Mooney and W. L. McMahon. The first aircraft produced by the new Mooney company was the small single-seat

Mooney Mite M-18 The Mooney M-18 "Mite" is a low-wing, single-place monoplane with retractable, tricycle landing gear.M.R. Montgomery & Gerald Foster: ''A Field Guide to Airplanes - Second Edition'', p. 46. Houghton Milflin Company 1992. Plane and Pilot: ''19 ...

. It was designed to appeal to the thousands of fighter pilots leaving military service. Some thought the Mooney Mite looked so much like the

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War an ...

that they called it the "Texas Messerschmitt". The Mite was produced into the early 1950s and established some of the design concepts still used by Mooney today. Al Mooney had been developing the designs for a four-seater plane for some time while the Mite was in production. In early 1953, the company moved to

, and when it became clear that the Mite was nearing the end of its production, the development of the new plane was accelerated. The first M20 flight took place on September 3, 1953. Charles Yankey had been the primary financial backer since he helped Al establish the company in 1948, and when he visited Kerrville for a ride in the new airplane, he was pleased with the project and began to develop the financial plans necessary to put the plane into production. Later that year, before Yankey transferred the funds from Wichita to Kerrville, he suffered a severe stroke, and he died in December 1953. None of Yankey's heirs had any interest in the aviation business, and although he had left his company stock to the two Mooney brothers, that stock had little value without further investment. The company was on the point of declaring bankruptcy when two investors, Hal Rachal and Norm Hoffman of

Midland, Texas Midland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, Texas, United States. A small part of Midland is in Martin County. At the 2020 census, Midland's population was 132,524. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas metropolitan ...

, decided to step in and save the company. The M20 was certified in September 1955. Shortly thereafter, Albert Mooney left the company and went to work for the

Lockheed Aircraft Corporation The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer. Lockheed was founded in 1926 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995. Its founder, Allan Lockheed, had earlier founded the similarly named but o ...

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...

. His brother Art joined him there, and both remained with Lockheed until retirement. During 1955, Mooney sold 10 of the M20 airplanes. Due to start-up costs, they lost US$3000 on each airplane. Production increased, and they delivered 51 airplanes in 1956 and 105 airplanes in 1957. The M20 gained attention because it was able to achieve speeds of up to with a Lycoming O-320 engine. The combination of speed and efficiency was noteworthy. In 1958 the M20A joined the lineup with a larger Lycoming O-360-A1A engine, and by 1959 this was the only model offered, with a total sales that year of 231 units. This was the first year the company made a profit. The M20A continued production into 1960 when 166 were delivered. These were the last of the Mooneys to have wooden structures in the wings and tail.

1960s

Since Al Mooney's departure, John W. Taylor had been the chief engineer. In January 1960, the Mooney company convinced Ralph Harmon to leave

McDonnell Aircraft The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company was founded on July 6, 1939, by James Smith McDonnell, and was best known for its military fighters, including the F-4 Phantom I ...

and take over management of the engineering efforts. He had previously worked for

Beech Aircraft Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacturer of general aviati ...

where he headed the design of the Beechcraft Model 35, one of the first all-metal general aviation monoplanes. He later worked on the larger Cessna 620 and McDonnell Model C119, but his interests lay with small aircraft, and he accepted Mooney's offer. He insisted on replacing the wood in the M20 with aluminum, and the all-metal M20B was completed by the end of 1960, less than a year after his arrival. In 1961 the company sold 222 M20Bs. The following year the M20C, a refined version of the M20B, was introduced; 336 were sold that year. MooneyM20CMark21C-FGUQ

Rachal, Hoffman, and Harmon were not experienced at running an aircraft factory, but saw the need to expand the product line and add dealers, and pushed ahead. In 1963 they introduced the M20D, essentially an M20C with fixed landing gear and a fixed-pitch propeller. This had a slightly lower price than the M20C and was intended as a basic or trainer model which would have lower insurance costs. It could be upgraded with retractable landing gear, and in fact most of them were upgraded over the years. The M20D was produced from 1963 to 1966 with a total production of 141 units. 1964 saw the introduction of the M20E Super 21, based on the M20C but with a more powerful fuel-injected Lycoming engine. The company sold 366 M20Es that year. Mooney M22 Mustang N7706M Le B 03

To supplement the M20 line, Mooney began development of a high-performance

pressurized {{Wiktionary Pressurization or pressurisation is the application of pressure in a given situation or environment. Industrial Industrial equipment is often maintained at pressures above or below atmospheric. Atmospheric This is the process by ...

single, the M22 Mustang. It first flew in September 1965 and was certified two years later. The project was ultimately unsuccessful. Sources disagree on the total production, some saying 36 units, others 32, 29 or 27. What is certain is that each plane was a financial loss for the company. It was reported as having a heavy control response and poor visibility, although it did fly high and fast. The name also could have caused problems, since

Cavalier Aircraft Cavalier Aircraft Corporation was a Sarasota, Florida, aircraft manufacturing, sales, and maintenance company whose most famous products were refurbished P-51D Mustangs known as " Cavalier Mustangs." Origins The company was originally formed in 195 ...

had been modifying surplus

North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team ...

s for civilian use and wrote a letter to Mooney asking them not to use the name "Mustang". The letter was ignored and Cavalier filed suit, but by that time the M22 line was nearing its end and the Mustang name had been dropped. During several years in the early 1960s, Mooney had discussions with

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.MU-2. An agreement between the companies was reached in mid-1964: the MU2 would be fabricated in Japan but assembled by Mooney in the United States. The existing Kerrville facility and workforce was insufficient, so Mooney purchased near the airport in

San Angelo, Texas San Angelo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States. Its location is in the Concho Valley, a region of West Texas between the Permian Basin to the northwest, Chihuahuan Desert to the southwest, Osage Plai ...

( to the northeast of Kerrville), set up an assembly line in an existing hangar, and built new support facilities. The MU2 sold slowly. This was partly because the same sales force that was selling the M20 line was also trying to sell the much more expensive MU2. It cost about US$400,000, and marketing and selling such an airplane was different than selling a small four-seater. The company's management was also over-stretched. In 1967, Mooney acquired production rights to the Aircoupe from Alon Aircraft Company. Owners John Allen and Lee Higdon, who had left Beech Aircraft to start their own company, took managerial positions at Mooney. Production began in 1968 with a total of 38 units. That year Allen and Higdon both left Mooney, Allen returning to Beech to assist with the

Beechcraft Duke The Beechcraft 60 Duke is an American-built twin-engine fixed-wing aircraft designed and produced by Beechcraft. The aircraft has retractable tricycle landing gear and a pressurized cabin. The two piston engines are turbocharged and the turboc ...

. In 1969 the tail of the plane was updated and it became the M10 Cadet, but only 9 units were sold that year. 50 were built in 1970 before the model was terminated, marking the end of the Aircoupe. Despite strong sales of the M20, Mooney was short of cash. The development of the M22 Mustang had cost more than expected, and was ultimately unsuccessful. The collaboration with Mitsubishi had come with substantial financial assistance but proved too much for the company to handle. It went into

chapter 7 bankruptcy Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debtor. ...

in early 1969;

American Electronics Laboratories American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

quickly acquired Mooney in March of that year and invested US$600,000 to keep it operating. Sales that year were less than half of the previous year's figures, although a new model, the M20E Chapparal, was released with electrically-operated flaps and landing gear. AEL was unable to turn the company around and sold Mooney to Butler Aviation International in December 1969. AEL owned Mooney for just over 9 months and lost nearly a million dollars during that time. Butler Aviation also acquired the troubled Aerostar company and combined it with Mooney in an attempt to save both. The Mooney name was dropped in 1970, as was the M20 designation; the planes were called Aerostars.

1970s

Butler Aviation closed the Mooney plant in early 1971 and it remained closed for more than two years. In October 1973,

Republic Steel Corporation Republic Steel is an American steel manufacturer that was once the country's third largest steel producer. It was founded as the Republic Iron and Steel Company in Youngstown, Ohio in 1899. After rising to prominence during the early 20th Centu ...

acquired company and resumed production in 1974. Robert Cumming, a general manager at Republic Steel, had owned a Mooney M20F Executive for years and flew it frequently, and wished to put the Mooney M20 back into production. This began in January 1974 with the reintroduction of the M20F Executive. The company continued aggressive product development, working on another pressurized single to compete with the

Cessna 210 The Cessna 210 Centurion is a six-seat, high-performance, retractable-gear, single-engined, high-wing general aviation, general-aviation aircraft. First flown in January 1957, it was produced by Cessna until 1986. Design and development ...

, a turboprop designated the "301".

Roy LoPresti LeRoy Patrick "Roy" LoPresti (June 9, 1929 – August 7, 2002) was an eclectic American aeronautical engineer. He worked on projects as diverse as the Apollo Moon Program and missile design, served as advisor to the US Congress, became as "Mr. ...

, formerly of

Grumman Aerospace The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a 20th century American producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6, 1929, by Leroy Grumman and his business partners, it merged in 1994 ...

where he had worked on aircraft design and the

Apollo Lunar Module The Apollo Lunar Module (LM ), originally designated the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM), was the lunar lander spacecraft that was flown between lunar orbit and the Moon's surface during the United States' Apollo program. It was the first crewed ...

, was hired as chief of research and development to update the M20. The result was the M20J 201, so named because it was capable of with its engine. In a 1979 interview, LoPresti noted that Mooney did not have the resources to develop radical new composite construction aircraft as did other manufacturers, and would focus on evolutionary development of conventional aircraft. The 201 was a big seller, and a turbocharged version was developed later that year. The next year, 1977, three models were offered: the M20C Ranger, the M20F Executive, and the M20J 201. By 1979 the M20C had been dropped, ending production of the short-body M20. The same year, the company's first turbocharged M20 was released: the M20K 231, so designated because its top speed was . It was based on the earlier 201 with further improvements. This year a total of 439 airplanes were delivered — fewer than the top years of the 1960s, but these deliveries resulted in healthy profits. From this point through 1986, the M20J and the turbocharged M20K were the only two models offered.

1980s

General aviation manufacturing experienced a significant downturn starting in 1982. Mooney was affected along with other manufacturers and was forced to downsize through temporary layoffs. Despite the recession, development work continued. The 201 and 231 received more improvements, including significant reductions in cabin noise levels. The newly-developed six-place 301 had its first flight in the spring of 1982. That year deliveries fell to 218 units, and in 1983 only 154 aircraft were produced; but enthusiasm for the new 301 kept expectations high, and another opportunity arose. The

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

announced a competition to develop a replacement for the Cessna T-41 trainer, and Mooney immediately began to develop a military trainer based on the 231. In 1984, Republic Steel was acquired by the

Ling-Temco-Vought Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) was a large American conglomerate which existed from 1961 to 2000. At its peak, it was involved in aerospace, airlines, electronics, steel manufacturing, sporting goods, meat packing, car rentals, and pharmaceuticals, am ...

corporation, and Mooney was dropped. There were several bids to purchase the company and it was quickly purchased by a group of investors known as the Morrison Group from

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. Less than two months later it was acquired by the team of Armand Rivard of

Lake Aircraft Lake Aircraft was a manufacturer of amphibious aircraft. Its factory was in Sanford, Maine, United States, and its sales offices were located at Laconia / Gilford, New Hampshire and Kissimmee, Florida. The assets are currently owned by Rev ...

and Alexandre Couvelair, a Mooney dealer from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. They had placed a bid when Republic dropped Mooney and were determined to own the company. When president Tom Smith left to join

Fairchild Aircraft Fairchild was an American aircraft and aerospace manufacturing company based at various times in Farmingdale, New York; Hagerstown, Maryland; and San Antonio, Texas. History Early aircraft The company was founded by Sherman Fairchild in 1 ...

, Roy LoPresti became president, but he left the following year (1985) to work for

Beech Aircraft Corporation Beechcraft is an American brand of civil aviation and military aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of Beech Aircraft Corporation, an American manufacturer of general aviati ...

. The 301 was put on hold and was never resumed by Mooney; it eventually became the TBM700 and is now produced by

Socata Aircraft SOCATA (later EADS Socata and DAHER-SOCATA) was a French producer of general aviation aircraft propelled by piston engines and turboprops, including business planes, small personal or training aircraft, as well as the production of aircraft str ...

. The focus was once again on the M20 line. Sales continued to fall, totaling 143 in 1984 and 99 in 1985. Mooney opened a new facility in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

, in 1989. In February of that year, the next M20 model was released: the M20M TLS (Turbocharged Lycoming Sabre). The first year, the TLS accounted for 30 of the 143 aircraft delivered, and in 1990 this increased to 61 units. Also in 1989, Mooney released a trainer model based on the M20J. Beech, Cessna and Piper had all stopped production of trainers throughout the 1980s, and the 201AT was designed to fill this gap. From 1989 to 1992, 20 units were delivered.

1990s

1990 saw the release of the next new model, the M20J 201, also designated the MSE. This was a non-turbocharged model that incorporated many features from the TLS. In early 1991 Mooney decided to offer its Enhanced Flight Screener Trainer model to the general public, given that the Air Force was slow to make a decision on its trainer. It was to have a

Lycoming O-540 The Lycoming O-540 is a family of air-cooled six-cylinder, horizontally opposed fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter engines of displacement, manufactured by Lycoming Engines. The engine is a six-cylinder version of the four-cylinder Lycoming ...

engine and would be rated for aerobatics. However, it generated little public interest. The TLS continued production through 1995, and the MSE continued too, until it was replaced by the M20R Ovation in 1994. Once again Mooney was offering two models: one with high speed (the TLS) and the other with high efficiency. Mooney M20M

The competition for the Enhanced Flight Screener program was finally held in 1992, and the

Slingsby T67 Firefly The Slingsby T67 Firefly, originally produced as the Fournier RF-6, is a two-seat aerobatic training aircraft, built by Slingsby Aviation in Kirkbymoorside, Yorkshire, England. It has been used as a trainer aircraft by several armed forces, as ...

was chosen instead of the Mooney EFS. Sales continued to drop, only reaching 64 units in 1993. The San Antonio location was sold and all operations returned to Kerrville. Development of the M20 continued and the M20R Ovation was released in 1994. It was designed to fill a gap between the normally-aspirated MSE and the turbocharged TLS, and it was powered by a

Continental IO-550 The Continental IO-550 engine is a large family of 9 liter fuel injected six-cylinder, horizontally opposed, air-cooled aircraft engines that were developed for use in light aircraft by Teledyne Continental Motors. The first IO-550 was deliver ...

engine. Of the 91 Mooney aircraft manufactured in 1995, 54 were Ovations. The M20M Bravo, a TLS with more power, and the M20K Encore, an M20K with more power, appeared in 1996 and 1997, respectively.

2000s

In July 2001, Mooney entered yet another bankruptcy and under the leadership of J. Nelson Happy as CEO, the company was acquired by

Advanced Aerodynamics and Structures Inc. {{other uses, AASI (disambiguation){{!AASI AASI or Advanced Aerodynamics and Structures Inc (originally ASI, Aerodynamics and Structures Inc.) was an aircraft maker, headquartered in Long Beach, California. The company was financed by US based Busi ...

(AASI) in 2002. AASI resurrected Mooney under the name Mooney Aircraft Company, Inc., a division of Mooney Aerospace Group, Ltd. Two years later in 2004, MASG ( AASI) sold off the Mooney assets to Allen Holding Finance in May, and filed for bankruptcy on June 10. In December, MASG restructured and reacquired Mooney Aircraft Company from Allen Holding Finance. Gretchen L. Jahn joined Mooney in November 2004, becoming the first female CEO of a U.S. aircraft manufacturer. She oversaw the development and introduction of the M20TN Acclaim and the

Garmin Garmin Ltd. (shortened to Garmin, stylized as GARMIN, and formerly known as ProNav) is an American, Swiss-domiciled multinational technology company founded in 1989 by Gary Burrell and Min Kao in Lenexa, Kansas, United States, with headquart ...

G1000-equipped Ovation2 GX and Bravo GX. In June 2005, Mooney added a second shift and 50 new workers to boost production. MooneyM20TNAcclaimN312TN07

Mooney announced the release of the M20TN Acclaim on April 4, 2006, at the

Sun 'n Fun Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo (officially styled SUN 'n FUN) is a nonprofit organization in Lakeland, Florida dedicated to the promotion of aviation education. It is best known for the annual week-long fly-in and airshow at Lakeland Linder Intern ...

fly-in at

Lakeland, Florida Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal c ...

. The M20TN also featured the

Garmin G1000 The Garmin G1000 is an electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) typically composed of two display units, one serving as a primary flight display, and one as a multi-function display. Manufactured by Garmin Aviation, it serves as a replaceme ...

glass cockpit A glass cockpit is an aircraft cockpit that features electronic (digital) flight instrument displays, typically large LCD screens, rather than the traditional style of analog dials and gauges. While a traditional cockpit relies on numerous mech ...

, four heated, leather captain's chairs with lumbar support, a range in excess of , and a top speed of . At the time of its introduction, the Acclaim was the fastest single-engine piston-powered production aircraft in the world. Mooney was a publicly traded company after emerging from bankruptcy under the [symbol MNYG (OTC BB) until October 2006, when Mooney Aerospace Group arranged financing to buy out public shareholders. In late 2007, Mooney announced the arrival of its newest model, the M20TN Acclaim Type S. The Acclaim Type S added to the Acclaim's top speed to reach a speed of . Mooney achieved this performance gain through aerodynamic tweaks to the Acclaim's airframe.

2008 production halt

On 16 June 2008, Mooney announced it would lay off 60 employees and cut production from eight aircraft per month to five. Mooney CEO Dennis Ferguson said: The reasons for the cutbacks and layoffs cited by the company include the weak US economy and the high price of fuel inhibiting sales. On 5 November 2008, the company announced it was halting all production and had laid off 229 of its 320 employees, due to an excess unsold inventory of aircraft as a result of the late-2000s recession. Virtually all the laid-off employees were on the production line. The company said all other operations would continue and all customer support and existing customer orders would be filled. In carrying out the layoffs, the company did not comply with the notification requirements of Texas law. In a statement Mooney said: In a third round of layoffs in December 2008, the company let go an additional 40 workers, leaving only about 50 employees at work. The company had 25 unsold aircraft at its factory in December 2008.

2010s

In April 2010, after 18 months with no aircraft production, the backlog of unsold aircraft was cleared and the company announced it intended to resume aircraft production in the near future, subject to the market gaining "a little more momentum". On 19 November 2010, Mooney started a new round of layoffs, intending to reduce company staff from 53 to less than 10 employees by 1 January 2011. The remaining staff would be employed maintaining the company's physical facilities, its type and production certificates and providing parts and technical support to aircraft owners. The company continued negotiations with potential investors to allow production to resume. Company Chief Financial Officer Barry Hodkin stated, "We are not shutting down. However, we cannot continue to subsidize the company at the level we have in the recent past. We have been in discussions with potential investors for more than 18 months and will continue to work with them. If things change, then the scope of this layoff could change". Mooney Acclaim Ultra

By August 2013, the company was still not producing new aircraft, but continued to support the existing fleet with parts. The company indicated that a return to production of complete aircraft was contemplated, depending on new investment being found. On 8 October 2013, it was announced that the company had been purchased by

Soaring America Corporation Soaring may refer to: * Gliding, in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes * Lift (soaring), a meteorological phenomenon used as an energy source by some aircraft and birds * ''Soaring'' (magazine), a magazine produced ...

, a new California-based company headed by President Cheng Yuan (Jerry Chen) of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, for an undisclosed amount. Chen heads a group of Chinese investors that some reports indicate include the Meijing Group, a Chinese real-estate developer. Chen indicated his priorities included resuming production of the Acclaim and the Ovation, while continuing to supply parts for the existing fleet. Chen stated the company would remain in Kerrville, and concentrate on supplying new aircraft for the Chinese market. Paul Bertorelli, AVweb's Editorial Director, Aviation Publications, questioned whether the outdated and expensive-to-produce Mooney models, that use engines burning

avgas Avgas (aviation gasoline, also known as aviation spirit in the UK) is an aviation fuel used in aircraft with spark-ignited internal combustion engines. ''Avgas'' is distinguished from conventional gasoline (petrol) used in motor vehicles, w ...

, can succeed in the Chinese market. With the injection of capital from its new Chinese owners, production resumed on 26 February 2014, beginning with the completion of five previously incomplete airframes already on the assembly line. In April 2014 at

Sun n Fun Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo (officially styled SUN 'n FUN) is a nonprofit organization in Lakeland, Florida dedicated to the promotion of aviation education. It is best known for the annual week-long fly-in and airshow at Lakeland Linder Intern ...

, the company announced a US$50M investment, including the construction of a Mooney museum in Kerrville to be run by a new nonprofit organization. With production underway, 85 employees were at work, with the workforce forecast to expand to 140 by the end of 2014. Chief Executive Officer Chen stated the company would deliver 6 aircraft in 2014 and 30 in 2015. In January 2015 the first aircraft, a Mooney M20TN, was delivered to a customer in China. The aircraft was shipped disassembled and then assembled and test flown in

Zhengzhou Zhengzhou (; ), also spelt Zheng Zhou and alternatively romanized as Chengchow, is the capital and largest city of Henan Province in the central part of the People's Republic of China. Located in north-central Henan, it is one of the National ...

, China. Two new Mooney models were announced on 11 November 2014. The

Mooney M10T The Mooney M10T is a light aircraft that was under development by Mooney Aircraft with an original proposed delivery date in 2017. The project was cancelled in April 2017. The first flight of the proof of concept prototype was on 23 December 201 ...

was to be a fixed gear composite aircraft powered by Continental’s CD-135 diesel engine; the M10J was a variant which was to have retractable gear and the CD-155 diesel. These were developed largely with the Chinese aviation market in mind. In China, aviation fuel is scarce and expensive, whereas diesel fuel is less expensive and more readily available. The M10 series certification and deliveries were expected to begin in 2017, but in April 2017 the company announced that the project had been canceled, stating that the knowledge gained from this project would be applied to a future project. In August 2016, Mooney named Vivek Saxena as its new President and CEO. Under his tenure, Mooney's newest models, the M20V Acclaim Ultra and the M20U Ovation Ultra, received full FAA ceritification. Mooney also secured a partnership with the rotorcraft research company

Carter Aviation Technologies Carter Aviation Technologies (also known as CarterCopters) is a Limited liability company, privately held aviation research and development company based in Wichita Falls, Texas, United States. The main focus of the company is developing new techn ...

, LLC to work towards the

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...

Elevate initiative. In April 2017 it was announced that Saxena and Mooney had “decided to part ways", with Chief Financial Officer Albert Li assuming the role of interim executive director. It was announced in July 2017 that investors decided to shut down Mooney's research and development facilities at

Chino Airport Chino Airport is a county-owned airport about three miles southeast of Chino, in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The Federal Aviation Administration's National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2007–2011 classified it ...

, California, and relocate to their headquarters in

. The company sold only 14 aircraft in 2018 and only 4 in the first half of 2019. The company shut down and furloughed all employees on 12 November 2019. The company was reportedly seeking new American investors to reopen, but in the meantime did not respond to inquiries from the media or from existing aircraft owners seeking support or parts. The company reopened on 2 December 2019, after being closed for 20 days. It was unclear if new financing had been secured at that time or not and the company provided no additional details. It was also unclear how many workers had returned and the company continued to not return aviation media inquiries.

2020s

On 6 January 2020 the company again laid-off all employees and did not provide them with the previously committed holiday pay owed. A company human resources employee indicated at that time that Mooney was still seeking investment, but that the company's future was unknown. On 1 September 2020 the company was taken over by a new ownership group under US Financial, LLC. The existing company management was replaced by a new CEO, Jonny Pollack, and a team consisting of "pilots and Mooney owners". The company will prioritize providing support for the existing fleet of more than 7,000 Mooney aircraft. Future priorities are anticipated to include increasing the aircraft useful loads by providing lighter parts, such as

carbon fiber reinforced polymer Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

engine cowlings. The company will then assess future design changes, including fitting ballistic parachutes, adding auto-landing capabilities and designing larger cabins.

Products

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

Mooney Airplane Company website

{{Mooney Aviation Company Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1929 Aircraft manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Texas Companies based in Kerrville, Texas 1929 establishments in Texas