The M10-project was officially ended a couple of weeks (months?) ago.
It was ended by a ceo who left the company almost immediately after the announcement… Since then, the situation is not clear.
Mooney_Driver wrote:
the J model a lovely little travellerI would have loved a J model. I might have to fall back on an existing J model.
Well, Arne, you might have to do that. I got the answer that it appears the M10 project has indeed been shelfed. Primarily it seems to have to do that there was very few demand for this kind of plane in America, basically because the Avgas problem does not exist. Apparently there were fractions within the company who wanted to continue for the markets they knew would welcome a diesel plane of this kind (Asia, Europe most prominently) opposed by those who do not read anything outside America.
Obviously that is hearsay but I would not be surprised. The diesel planes in Europe are quite successful but they are here, in the US Diesel has few followership because Avgas is available everywhere.
I would imagine that some of the new kids at Mooney who developed the M10 concept also very much underestimated the cost of certification. Hence the leadership decided that it was a better idea to create the Ultra series for the M20.
My own take on this is known. I think Mooney is not progressing because they lack a popular entry level plane. The M10 would have been that, but apparently real innovation is at this time limited to others.
Shorrick_Mk2 wrote:
If the demand is for “fast practical kit” how come all kit manufacturers combined sell less than Cirrus does in a year?
Really? Cirrus will probably ship about 300 aircraft in 2017 (151 for the first six months). Completion rates for Vans RV aircraft is about 1.5 aircraft per day on average (about 540 a year).
GAMA doesn’t seem to be able to reconcile that completion rate with registrations…
