I've never flown one, so I can't comment directly on how they fly. I did get a ride in one several years ago when I had to ferry my airplane from the Midwest to the East, a ride I try not to think about because it induces drooling.
One of the better ways to have started a flamewar back in the days of the Usenet "alt-dot" groups was to go to an aviation usegroup and ask: "Which is better, a Money or a Bonanza?"*
Mooney Aircraft made very fast airplanes. They also had a willingness to push the envelope on design and performance, even if they failed (the Mustang and the PFM).
The Mooney Acclaim, a/k/a the Mooney 20TN, will outrun any other production single piston-engined civilian aircraft there is and is one of the few singles that will comfortably cruise at over 200kts. The original Mooney 20 had a 150HP engine and wooden wings. The wooden wings went away with the M20C and the M20TN has a 280HP engine.
It's a damnable shame that the airplane is going out of production.
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* My sense of it was that Mooneys were more like sports cars and Bonanzas were more like Crown Vics.
Ever get the impression we've seen civilization crest, and now we're on the backside of the curve?
ReplyDeleteNah, I think we're seeing the same old "boom-bust" cycle for GA that we've seen since the end of WW2. Most people who might buy a GA airplane really don't have to, no matter how much they can try to justify it for time and business uses.
ReplyDeleteSo when the economy tanks, so do GA sales. Mooney is dying in this recession, which is nothing compared to the number of GA makers who gave up in the `47 recession (Globe, North American, Stinson, Erco, to name a few).
It's so sad to see any airplane go, apparently they've done so before, maybe they can pick up again someday.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, glad I stumbled across your blog. Just in reading your rules and your comment on mine I love your style :)
Nangleator, I do. We're living during either the "time of the collapse of petroleum dependent empires" and western civilization - or a change to something new. It's going to be a wild ride either way.
ReplyDeleteMooney's are great airplanes. I'm hoping I have access to one someday soon. Back in 1980 I lusted after 201s in Flying, and finally they're cheap enough and I'm "rich" enough it's a possibility.
Toria, I came across your blog when I read Frank's (N631S).
ReplyDeleteMooney has gone in and out of business a couple times before, so hopefully someone else will step forward and put their aircraft back into production once the economy turns up. Mooneys were always a luxury brand and a luxury brand in what's already a luxury hobby isn't going to do too well when nobody is spending money on anything they don't need -- and who really *does* need a Mooney (as vs. strongly lust for one)?
ReplyDelete- Badtux the Flightless Penguin