AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2015 - 72

Company officials say the quality, performance, and handling qualities of the totally
new aircraft have never been better.
Workers answered phones, fulfilled parts
orders, lubricated the machinery, and
jumped through the bureaucratic hoops
required to maintain Mooney's FAA type
and production certificates. Bizarrely, that
meant keeping records on environmental
and manufacturing committee meetings
and documenting ongoing safety training.
The FAA acted out its part in this charade
with regular factory visits and audits,
even though absolutely no manufacturing activity was taking place.
Collier said workers on the skeleton
crew did their best to serve customers
and keep each other's spirits up. And their
Alice-in-Wonderland paperwork drills were
essential to Mooney's revival. "If we had
lost our production or type certificate, that
could have been the end," he said. "Those
certificates have a great deal of value."
PRETTY REMARKABLE

Sleek and aerodynamically clean, Mooneys
have long been known for a unique combination of speed and fuel efficiency-as
well as distinctive, straight-up vertical
stabilizers. They're also exceptionally tighthandling airplanes that incorporate pushrod
controls instead of cables, and they're stout.
The main wing spar is a single metal piece
that stretches from tip to tip, and formed
skins provide phenomenal strength. The
passenger compartment is a reinforced cage
that offers a great deal of crash protection.
In the air, Mooneys tend to be heavier
in roll than pitch, and they require strict
adherence to proper final approach speeds.
If flown too fast on final approach, they'll
float endlessly in ground effect.
The newest model, the Ovation 3,
increases power output to 310 horsepower
(from 280) by raising propeller/engine rpm.
That change brings correspondingly shorter
takeoff rolls and higher rates of climb.
Mooneys are all about speed, however, and
the Ovation 3 tops the magical 200-knot
indicated airspeed figure-a number that
earns bragging rights.
There were six partially complete aircraft on the assembly line when Mooney
shut down production in 2010. Now, those
72 | AOPA PILOT May 2015

airframes all have been completed and
delivered. Every aspect of each new aircraft going forward was done under the
new regime, and company officials say the
quality, performance, and handling qualities of the totally new aircraft have never
been better.
"When you look at the progress we've
made in the last 12 months, it's hard not to
be impressed," Bowen said. "Things never
go as quickly as we'd like, but when you
look at how far we've come in the last year,
it's pretty remarkable."
THE BEST CHANCE

Stephen Sherman is a "comeback" employee
who has been hired at Kerrville four separate times since his first stint began in 1979.
This is not uncommon among his peers.
Republic Steel owned the company
when Sherman started, and Mooney was
producing 10 airplanes a week (J and K
models) at that time. Then it was sold to a
French firm, and an economic downturn in
the early 1980s led to the first in a series of
bankruptcies and layoffs.
Sherman went to work for a nearby
service center that specializes in upgrading and repairing used Mooneys.
"That was a really good experience
because I saw firsthand how durable these
airplanes are, and what they're like to service in the field," he said. "I also got to work
directly with Mooney owners and saw the
kinds of upgrades they value, and how
much they flat-out love the product."
Sherman's long but oft-interrupted
tenure at Mooney included its collaboration with Porsche in the 1980s when

ALL NEW Mooneys are equipped
with glass panels and Continental
engines. A simulator (bottom left)
is part of a factory training program.
State-of-the-art manufacturing
equipment allows for precise
production of critical parts (right).

AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2015

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