Non-"Mooney" planes that Mooney had a hand in designing

[Sam D]

I've know for a while that the "M" in TBM stood for Mooney and that the company was involved in the initial development, but I just read that they were also involved in the development of the MU-2. Are there others they were involved with?

 

[Henning]

Well, there is an interesting story that goes with the Commanche design that goes, "Al Mooney stopped by Piper in Lockhaven with his plane, grounded by weather. They pulled it into their hangar to store it for him, and did a bunch of reverse engineering off it while he was gone and built the Commanche." Not sure as to the entire historic validity, but it was told to me by the pres. of the International Commanche Society.

 

[EdFred]

In 1954, Bill Piper was looking for a design to compete with the Bonanza. The engineers at Piper were busy with other projects at the time, so Bill Piper asked his friend Al Mooney if Piper could buy the new Mooney MK-20 design that Mooney had not yet started producing. Al wouldn't sell the design, so Bill Piper asked Al Mooney to come up with a totally new design. Al submitted a design to Piper that was an all metal 4 place monocoque construction with retractable gear, a 180 HP Lycoming, and a stabilator in place of an elevator. The stabilator was a new design, an all flying horizontal tail.

The cabin size of Al Mooney's design was a bit small, so the engineers at Piper increased the cabin size and the first Prototype PA-24, N2024P, was created in 1956. As you can see in this photo, the trailing link landing gear on the prototype is not what we have on our Comanches. It is suspected that Bill Piper decided that the trailing link landing gear would be too complex and expensive, and in an effort to undercut the cost of the Bonanza, he decided on the straight tube oleo strut landing gear that all Comanches are equipped with.
http://www.pilotfriend.com/aircraft performance/Piper/11.htm

 

[wanttaja]

Well, there is an interesting story that goes with the Commanche design that goes, "Al Mooney stopped by Piper in Lockhaven with his plane, grounded by weather. They pulled it into their hangar to store it for him, and did a bunch of reverse engineering off it while he was gone and built the Commanche." Not sure as to the entire historic validity, but it was told to me by the pres. of the International Commanche Society.

An identical story is out there regarding the Ford Trimotor being based on the Fokker Trimotor....

Ron Wanttaja

 

[champ driver]

At the age of 19, Al Mooney was the assistant to the chief designer of the Alexander Eaglerock manufactured in Denver. In 1928 he was chief designer and also designed the Bullet in 1928-29. It was a low wing plane with retractable gear

In 1929 he and his brother Art, left Denver and started their own company in Wichita.
He also worked at Bellanca and was responsible for the Bellanca Airbus and the racer "Irish Swoop".
Working with Culver he designed the 2 seat low wing Dart in the late 30's.
After the war he designed the Mooney M-18 Mite.

 

[kgruber]

Same thing with the ICON.

The ICON engineers were all over the Dornier S-Ray at Oshkosh.

 

[LDJones]

In 1954, Bill Piper was looking for a design to compete with the Bonanza. The engineers at Piper were busy with other projects at the time, so Bill Piper asked his friend Al Mooney if Piper could buy the new Mooney MK-20 design that Mooney had not yet started producing. Al wouldn't sell the design, so Bill Piper asked Al Mooney to come up with a totally new design. Al submitted a design to Piper that was an all metal 4 place monocoque construction with retractable gear, a 180 HP Lycoming, and a stabilator in place of an elevator. The stabilator was a new design, an all flying horizontal tail.

The cabin size of Al Mooney's design was a bit small, so the engineers at Piper increased the cabin size and the first Prototype PA-24, N2024P, was created in 1956. As you can see in this photo, the trailing link landing gear on the prototype is not what we have on our Comanches. It is suspected that Bill Piper decided that the trailing link landing gear would be too complex and expensive, and in an effort to undercut the cost of the Bonanza, he decided on the straight tube oleo strut landing gear that all Comanches are equipped with.
http://www.pilotfriend.com/aircraft performance/Piper/11.htm

Same shotgun panel design of early Mooneys!

 

[Pilawt]

Working with Culver he designed the 2 seat low wing Dart in the late 30's.

Al Mooney had his own personal model numbers for his designs. He had designed what he called the M-10*, or Monosport, for the Monocoupe company. In 1937 a Monocoupe dealer, Knight Culver, bought the production rights to the Monosport, and renamed it Culver Dart. Mooney came along as well, and developed an improved model, the Cadet (M-12 to Mooney).

The Cadet design was the basis for a series of wartime military drones, including the PQ-8, PQ-8A (M-14) and PQ-14 (M-16). The postwar Culver "V" was M-17 in Mooney's system.

The 90-hp "Helton Lark 95" of 1966, with fixed tricycle landing gear, was a civilianized two-seat version of the PQ-8 drone.

Al Mooney left his own company in 1955 to join his brother at Lockheed. There he was involved in the project that became the Jetstar bizjet.

*The "M-10" model number has been reused twice -- in 1969 for the Mooney-ized Alon Aircoupe ("M-10 Cadet"), and again for a recently-announced series of composite aircraft.

 

[Unbeliever]

I've know for a while that the "M" in TBM stood for Mooney and that the company was involved in the initial development, but I just read that they were also involved in the development of the MU-2. Are there others they were involved with?

The hint is in the name "MU-2".

In Japanese, the number 2 is pronunced "Ni".

So it's the "Mitsubishi Mooney"

--Carlos V.