Mooney Aircraft company is back in business. Yesterday, at a press conference at AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Mooney’s CEO, Dr. Jerry Chen, handed over the keys to the new owner of the first M20TN Acclaim Type S to roll off the production line since the company reopened its doors after a lengthy hiatus. The Acclaim went to Ricardo Pasco of Bedford Corners, New York, the highest bidder of an online auction that concluded on July 11. Pasco’s instructor received the keys in his place.
A total of 107 people registered for the online auction and 29 potential customers completed the financial approval process to become eligible to bid. The winning bid came in at $646,000, more than $50,000 less than the retail price for the airplane.
All proceeds from the new Acclaim will go toward a new museum to be built at Mooney’s campus in Kerrville, Texas. A conceptual drawing of the building was unveiled at the press conference. Tom Bowen, Mooney’s COO, explained that the structure features a Quonset hut design to honor the past and all-glass walls to signify the future. The museum will also have large aircraft parking area for pilots flying in to visit.
Mooney now has more than 150 combined employees at the Kerrville manufacturing facility and the new headquarters in Chino, California. Additionally, Mooney will establish an office in Beijing, China.
With a cruise speed of 242 knots, the Acclaim Type S is the fastest airplane in its segment. It is powered by a turbo-normalized Continental TSIO-550-G engine. Chen said the initial production rate would be one airplane per month, with a five-to-one ratio of Acclaims versus the non-turbocharged version, the Ovation. The targeted production rate for 2015 is two airplanes per month. So far at AirVenture, Mooney has signed an order for 10 Acclaims to a customer in China and three to Premier Aircraft Sales, a Mooney dealer based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
When someone from the audience asked whether Chen would consider reintroducing the highly popular Mooney 201, he answered: “It’s hard but we are working on it,” vaguely hinting at the possibility of additional models being added in the not too distant future.
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