236 KTAS, 25,000 feet, 20.6 GPH

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Jahn flew the plane from Kerrville, Texas to Lakeland, Florida and told the large crowd of media (and the just plain interested) that those were the numbers she got. She also said that because the plane is a prototype, they expect performance to improve once the 280-hp, Continental TSIO 550G is tweaked to make the most of its new home. The speed is important because it’s exactly one knot faster than Columbia Aircraft’s posted maximum cruise for its fixed-gear turbo 400 model. AVweb has received several unconfirmable emails from obvious Mooney fans who claim Jahn is actually soft-peddling the performance of the Acclaim and that 250 KTAS is closer to its real enroute speed. Wait for this one to play out. The aerodynamically inclined will tell you that kind of math is very hard (read: unlikely) to achieve. Range predictions are also hard to compare to Columbia, which claims 1,300 nm at max cruise carrying 98 gallons. Mooney says the Acclaim will go 1615 nm with 130 gallons in a long-range package — but at pulled back to 200kts.

The Acclaim looks very much like a Bravo, except for some rather impressive looking wing tips and the huge cowl openings that keep things cool in front of the firewall while eliminating the need for cowl flaps. The new plane has a full Garmin G1000 package on the panel and leather interior, which fit one of our editor’s six-foot three-inch frame just fine, thank you very much. And yes, the Acclaim does come with a built-in oxygen system and the only FAA-approved flight into known icing package in its class, according to Mooney. The price is $495,000. Say bye-bye to the Bravo, Jahn says it’s replacement has been found in the Acclaim. Testing, tweaking, and probably some well-deserved gloating will continue through summer. But when it’s over (expect sometime in the 3rd quarter of this year) delivery of Mooney’s new Acclaim begins.

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