Why One Pilot Changed Plans And Bought A Mooney

The customer made an impromptu visit to the Mooney factory and, according to Saxena's telling of it, fell in love with the style of the newly certificated plane, though we're guessing it might have had a little something to do with its 242-knot top speed, a capability the Mooney head referred to as "near-turboprop speed," a claim with which we would not disagree.

Saxena welcomed the aviation media to an event at the Sun ’n Fun Fly-In in Lakeland, Florida on Tuesday that was more celebration than news announcement. At the event Saxena discussed some details of the company's having earned FAA certification for its two new models, the Mooney Acclaim Ultra and Ovation Ultra, allowing the company to begin delivering those airplanes soon.

Saxena said that Mooney has 11 airplanes on the production line at its much-modernized Kerrville, TX, factory, and that customers were encouraged by the milestone. The new planes feature newly designed cockpit shells of composite construction that give them two entry doors, both of which are larger for far easier access, along with bigger windows, a redesigned interior and upgraded controls. Big news that we all only learned lately was that the new planes have gotten the excellent new Garmin G1000 NXi cockpit, complete with keypad. See our flight report on the Ultra by clicking here and look for a coming story on the company's new Ovation Ultra NXi coming soon.

Learn more at Mooney.