First flight: Mooney M10T

[DirtyProp]

First flight: Mooney M10 ? General Aviation News (http://generalaviationnews.com/2015/12/26/first-flight-mooney-m10/)

What do you guys think?
I still believe that trainers should be made of metal, but that's just me. I'm quite interested in that diesel engine, though.
Best of luck to Mooney.

[Pace]

Not sure what this post is doing in the Biz Jet forum? This is a trainer with a Diesel engine. Not seen the performance spec or why it will stand out from other similar trainers ?
Not typical of the breed with the Mooney tail or wings so for me not really a Mooney Is this a Mooney designed aircraft or a poached aircraft with the Mooney name ?

Pace

[juliet]

Pace - try reading the forum title after that little comma :ok:

[westhawk]

It's a clean sheet trainer, mostly intended to be a lower cost alternative to aircraft currently used for flight training. Since Mooney and Continental are both now Chinese owned companies, they are both now in an almost ideal position to service the forecast boom in Chinese aviation growth. If and when that boom is ever directed to occur by the Chinese central government, they'll be ready to go in the light aircraft market.

The next step, utilizing Chinese domestic production facilities and labor, they could probably price most current manufacturers right out of the business, corner the global light aircraft market and make a tidy profit doing it. US FAA certification is likely an early step towards that eventual goal.

Let's face it, the US and Europe can't compete on price and buying existing US companies is a shorter path to achieving a globally marketable production quality standard. Did I mention that they'll kill North America and Europe on price?

The only thing that looks Mooney about the M-10T is the resemblance of the shape of the vertical stabilizer to a Mooney. Aside from it's aesthetics, I wonder if it will have that all-important Mooney quality of superior efficiency when compared to other airplanes in it's class.

[drag king]

I still believe that trainers should be made of metal, but that's just me.

Some believe real planes should have the small wheel at the end, not in the front. Others believe that 70 in any trainer are all you need to fly an airliner and invented the MPL.

Times have changed...I guess.

DK ;)

[DirtyProp]

This is a trainer with a Diesel engine. Not seen the performance spec or why it will stand out from other similar trainers ?

Because if everything will go to plans (big IF), it will be the only trainer with a diesel engine.
Are there any other trainers out there with such a powerplant? For the time being I don't see any.

Westhawk, good points.
If the Chinese market will really need large amounts of pilots, it makes sense that their govmt will try to do in-house training as much as they can.
Easa and the FAA better do something about it, or they will lose many customers.

Drag king, yes times have changed.
When it comes to training I don't think they changed for the better, but again it's just my opinion.

[pattern_is_full]

We-all - remember how Al Mooney started the whole thing...the wood-and-fabric "Mite."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooney_M-18_Mite

Which still managed to incorporate Al's innovations: forward-swept fins, all-moving tail trim, auto-trim with flaps.

Not a trainer of course - only room for one.

The M10T reminds me a bit of the Piper Traumahawk/Beech Skipper - minus the T-tails. I passed my PPL in the latter.

[westhawk]

The M10T reminds me a bit of the Piper Traumahawk/Beech Skipper - minus the T-tails.

That was my initial impression too!

I never happened to fly either one. Though I do so enjoy listening to those stories people like to tell about looking at the tail of the Traumahawk during a stall. Some of those stories are told so expressively! :eek:

Maybe the M-10T will be more of a market success than the C-162?

westhawk

[DirtyProp]

I got my PPL on a Traumahawk in Texas, and I quite liked the bird.
Too bad Piper lightened the structure too much, it could have become an excellent trainer.

[AN2 Driver]

The M10 is clearly aimed at the non US markets with diesel. In the US, diesel is largely ignored as Avgas prices and availability are not an issue. In Europe and China that is different, let alone in places like Africa.

The M10T reminds me a bit of the Piper Traumahawk/Beech Skipper - minus the T-tails.

Well apart from the fact that this one will run 140 kts TAS with the Centurion 135. And the M10J will run 170 kts TAS on the 155, with a range of up to 950 NM. Seeing that Mooney usually achieves figures fairly close to projection, those would be rather interesting.

I wonder if it will have that all-important Mooney quality of superior efficiency when compared to other airplanes in it's class.

projected figures might suggest exactly that. The diesels are fairly efficient by themselfs and if you can move them with their consumption along at these speeds, that looks very efficient indeed.

The J is designed also to replace the M20J or Mooney 201, which was the entry level Mooney. The M10J will be rougly slightly faster than the 201 and use quite a lot less fuel. Most M20's are flown as 2 or three seaters anyhow, so personally I look at the M10J as a rather promising 2 seat traveller with the 3rd seat available for a kid or for shorter distances.

The make or break will be whether the market will accept a new airplane without BRS though. But in terms of efficiency, I think Mooney is finally going back to their roots. I do wonder what the eventual replacement of the M20 airframe will look like.