|
The Mooney Aviation Company, Inc. (MAC) (formerly the Mooney Aircraft Company) is a Chinese-owned manufacturer of single-engined general aviation aircraft based in Kerrville, Texas, United States. The company has gone bankrupt and changed ownership several times. Among its achievements were the first pressurized single-engined, piston-powered aircraft (M22 Mustang), production of the fastest civilian single-engined, piston-powered aircraft in the world (M20TN Acclaim Type S), the first production aircraft to achieve on ) (M20J 201) and the fastest transcontinental flight in a single-engined, piston-powered production aircraft (M20K 231). All Mooney aircraft have the signature vertical stabilizer with its vertical leading edge and swept trailing edge that gives the illusion of being forward-swept. ==History== Mooney Aircraft Corporation was started in 1929 by Albert Mooney and his brother Arthur, with funding from the Bridgeport Machine Company of Wichita, Kansas. Mooney Aircraft went bankrupt in 1930. The Mooney brothers worked for other aircraft companies from then through World War II. In 1946, Albert started Mooney Aircraft, Inc. with Charles "Pappy" Yankey in Kerrville, Texas. The next year Arthur joined the company. The first aircraft produced by the new Mooney company was the small, single-seat, Mooney Mite M-18. 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 that they called it the "Texas Messerschmitt". The Mooney Mite established some of the design concepts still used by Mooney today. The model Mooney M20 entered production in 1955 and outwardly resembled a scaled-up Mite. Mooney is still producing variants of the M20 today. In 1953, before funds were put in place for production of the M20, Mooney's financial backer, Charles Yankey, died of a stroke. In 1955, Albert Mooney sold his stock in the company to Harold Rachal and Norman Hoffman, then left the company to work for Lockheed Corporation. Shortly after, Arthur left Mooney to work for Lockheed, too. In 1965, the company became the U.S. distributor for Mitsubishi aircraft and began selling the Mooney MU-2 operating as Mooney-Mitsubishi Aircraft Inc. In 1967, Mooney acquired production rights to the Ercoupe from Alon Aircraft Company and produced a slightly updated version as the Mooney M10 Cadet. The M10 became the final Ercoupe variant, and production ended in 1970. Mooney went bankrupt again in early 1969 and was sold to American Electronics Labs, then to Butler Aviation, which ended operations in 1971. For about three years, Mooney failed to produce any aircraft. In 1973, Republic Steel Corporation acquired the rights and tooling for Mooney and resumed production in 1974. The company continued aggressive product development, working on yet another pressurized single-engined aircraft to compete with the Cessna 210. The turboprop Mooney "301" eventually became the TBM700 and is now produced by Socata Aircraft. Engineer, Roy LoPresti was hired as chief of research and development to update the M20, developing the efficient Mooney 201. 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. In 1984, Mooney merged with the French distribution firm Alexander Couvelaire. In July 2001, Mooney was the victim of yet another bankruptcy and the company was acquired by Advanced Aerodynamics and Structures, Inc. (AASI) in 2002. AASI resurrected Mooney under the name Mooney Aircraft Company, Inc., a division of Mooney Aerospace Group, Ltd. In 2004, MASG (AASI) sold off the Mooney assets to Allen Holding Finance in May, and filed for bankruptcy on June 10. In December 2004, MASG restructured and reacquired Mooney Aircraft Company from Allen Holding Finance. In November, 2004, Gretchen L. Jahn joined Mooney, becoming the first woman recruited to be CEO of a U.S. aircraft manufacturer. Jahn served for two years as a turnaround specialist, rebuilding Mooney's sales and dealer network, and after-sales service activities. She also oversaw the development and introduction of the M20TN Acclaim and the Garmin G1000-equipped Ovation2 GX and Bravo GX. In June, 2005, Mooney added a second shift and 50 new workers to boost production. On April 4, 2006, Mooney Airplane Company announced the release of the M20TN Acclaim at the 2006 Sun 'N Fun fly-in at Lakeland, Florida. The M20TN also features the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit, four heated, leather captains chairs with lumbar support, a range in excess of 1,650 nm (400 miles greater than the Bravo GX), and a top speed of which is also faster than the Ovation 2. At the time of its introduction, the Acclaim was the fastest single-engined, piston-powered production aircraft in the world. Mooney was a publicly traded company after emerging from bankruptcy under symbol MNYG (OTC BB) until October, 2006, when Mooney Aerospace Group arranged financing to buy out public shareholders. In the fall 2007, Mooney announced the arrival of its newest model, the M20TN Acclaim Type S. The Acclaim Type S adds to the Acclaim's top speed, up to . Mooney achieved this performance gain through aerodynamic tweaks to the Acclaim's airframe. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mooney Aviation Company」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|