Mooney On The Mend

The Mooney Aerospace Group is claiming victory in its effort to revive the almost-defunct GA icon. CEO Nelson Happy said in a statement that in the first six months of the year the company finished and sold eight planes that had already been started before Mooney went bankrupt in 2001. With the addition of $1.35 million in parts and service, revenue for the first half of the year totaled $4.5 million. Happy said there is now an order backlog of 13 worth $5.4 million but it’s not clear how many will be all-new aircraft. He said the company, which bought the Mooney plant out of receivership in 2002, is pleased with its initial success. “Completing and delivering eight aircraft in the first half of 2003 is clearly an accomplishment our team at Mooney is quite proud of.” It also didn’t hurt that Plane and Pilot Magazine readers picked the Mooney Ovation 2 as their favorite new aircraft. Happy said they’re aiming to build 30 planes a year and achieve revenues of $15 million. A month ago, Mooney announced partnerships with several European companies and the launch of a two-place Light Sport category aircraft called the Toxo, a Spanish design to be built in Kerrville.