Mooney Legends

THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF A SERIES OF INTERVIEWS AND IN THIS CASE LEGACY OF PEOPLE OF INTEREST HAVING TO DO WITH FLYING IN GENERAL, BUT MOST SPECIFICALLY; IMPORTANT PEOPLE HAVING TO DO WITH MOONEY AIRCRAFT.

JUST WHO WAS THE MAN WHO DESIGNED THE MOST EFFICIENT, ECONOMICAL, AND SAFE AIRCRAFT OF ITS TYPE? WHO IS AL MOONEY?

Albert W. Mooney was born in Denver, Colorado on April 12, 1906. In 1926, at the age of 19, he was a draftsman and assistant to the chief engineer at Alexander Aircraft in Denver. This is where the classic Curtiss OX-5 powered Eaglerock became a standard.

Later, as chief engineer at Alexander (1928-1929) he was responsible for the Bullet, an advanced, high speed, low wing monoplane. With Mooney's patented retractable landing gear, it was a mild sensation and ahead of its time.

Early in 1929, Mooney left Denver to form the Mooney Aircraft Corporation with his brother, Arthur B., in Wichita, KS. There he designed and built a more advanced low-wing monoplane, the Mooney A-1. Like the Bullet, it was designed for efficiency. Then the Depression hit the Mooney Corporation, and it closed its doors in 1931.

By 1934, Mooney was with Bellanca, where he spent a short time as chief engineer. During this time, he greatly influenced the design of the very successful Bellanca low-wing wooden wonders, a version of which is still being produced.

Then, becoming the vice president and chief engineer at Monocoupe Aircraft, he developed the Model G "Dart" and the Monocoach. The Dart was unmistakably an Al Mooney airplane, and when Culver Aircraft purchased the design, prototype and tooling for the Dart in 1938, Al followed right along with it.

During his days at Culver, Al designed the famous and fully aerobatic Cadet. With its elliptical wing and retractable landing gear, the two-seat Culver Cadet was fast and efficient. Over 350 of these high-performance aircraft had been produced by the time W.W. II erupted.

During the War, the Culver Company turned to the production of radio controlled target drones, and by the war's end had produced over 3000 of the PQ-8 (a drone version of the Cadet) and the PQ-14 (its successor) target drones. The tricycle geared, bright red PQ-14 was the direct ancestor of the Mite.

In July 1946, in partnership with C.G. Yankey and W.L. McMahon, the Mooney brothers resurrected the Mooney Aircraft Corp. Al was the general manager and chief engineer, while Art Mooney was the production manager. Bill Taylor was the sales manager and chief pilot, while Yankey financed the operation. Their first offering was the Mooney Series18, an all-wood single-seater with retractable tricycle gear and a cantilevered, laminar flow wing. Test flights continued through 1947 and certification was received in July, 1948. With its now-famous "backward" tail, the Mooney "Mite" hit the sport aviation world with a price tag of less than $2000, and represented the cheapest, smallest aircraft to be produced in quantity.

The first Mites produced were certified to use the 25 h.p. liquid-cooled Crosley Cobra automobile engine. These engines were mounted back-to-front and drove the propeller through a belt-driven reduction gear. However, due to numerous technical problems, they were soon recalled and replaced, at no charge to the owners, with 65 h.p Lycomings.

The economy and efficiency of the Mite with the 65 h.p. engine was remarkable: Three-and-a-half to four gallons per hour at cruise between 120 and 130 m.p.h. This miniature "fighter plane" was cheap to buy and fun to fly. It had a lot of appeal to ex-military pilots recently returned from the War. To celebrate his 25th anniversary as an aircraft designer, Al Mooney set an unofficial distance record of 1312 miles in a Mite.One drawback of the Mite was its limited carrying capacity. The pilot could easily equal 25% of the gross weight of the airplane. In the model with the full electrical system, the baggage compartment was taken up by the battery, leaving a baggage capacity of only 40 lb.

The Mite had a hand-operated, retractable gear system which was difficult for some to operate. Pilots who had trained on other small aircraft with fixed landing gear occasionally forgot to lower the gear for landing in the Mite. This is said to have happened to an embarrassed Al Mooney while he was giving a demo flight. This incident prompted him to invent the unique Wig-wag warning device which waves from the instrument panel when the pilot throttles-back with the gear up. Mooney had confidence in the rugged little Mite. Mooney advertisements claimed that belly-landings were a quicker, safer way to stop in difficult landing situations, and would cause little damage.

There were many ingenious features in Mooney's airplane. A small Plexiglas window in the floor permitted the pilot to easily observe the nose wheel position. The Safe-Trim mechanism, operated by a small handle on the left side of the cockpit, integrated the flaps and stabilizer. Rubber disks used in the landing gear resulted in a virtually problem-free shock absorber system.

In May, 1951, during the Korean war, Mooney conceived a militarized Mite. At their own expense, they developed the M-19 "Cub-Killer", a "counter-liaison" aircraft, featuring a 90 h.p. engine with a Flottorp constant speed propeller and two .30 caliber machine guns in the wings. The gross weight was 1450 lbs. and it achieved a top speed of 150 m.p.h. Although successful strafing demonstrations were given for the US military, no purchase orders were received.

In 1953, for economic reasons Mooney moved to Kerrville, Texas, where production continued. The M-18C and M-18L, now named the Wee Scotsman, featured the 65 h.p. Continental A65-8 and the Lycoming O-145-B. However, the M-18L was soon to be discontinued because the Lycoming engines were no longer available. A plaid-coloured paint job on the vertical fin using Scotchlite reflective material made it the first plane to be reflectorized for safety. It also had a greater fuel capacity,16 gallons instead of 12, extending the range from 290 to 420 miles for Continental model, and from 355 to 465 miles for the Lycoming model. With an optional 6 gallon fuel tank installed in the wing, the range extended to 610 miles. A Flottorp controllable-pitch propeller was now available for $189. The price of a new Mite was $2840, or you could buy one for $2400 without the engine.

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By 1955 the Mite had evolved into the model M-18C-55, which had a larger cockpit and canopy, but the price was approaching $4000. Mite production came to an end in 1956, as Mooney was then devoting his talent to the development of the Mark 20 family. The four-place Mark 20, with the hallmark forward-swept tail, was another solid airplane that achieved 180 m.p.h. on 180 h.p. However, Al Mooney was soon to depart the company he had founded and move to Lockheed-Georgia. He retired in 1968 and died in Dallas, Texas on May 7, 1986 at the age of 80.

Do you find it as ironic as I do that a 1929 idea for a personal aircraft has survived the test of time and remains the fastest, safest, and most efficient private aircraft on the market TODAY?!

Note the shape of the wing, tail, and trailing link landing gear. The Mooney went from this in 1946...........

To this (Acclaim) in 2007, some 61 years later! Notice the similarities in wing, tail, and landing gear.

So there you have it. The first of several BIOGRAPHY'S to come from Mooneyland that will cover the dynamic people of interest so far as Mooney aircraft is concerned.

You may or may not have ever heard of BOYD MADDOX of the West Houston area of Texas.

Boyd is one of a small group that knows the Mooney in and out, up, down, and sideways. He goes way back as an active enthusiast, re-builder of Mooney's and especially the Mooney Mite. (We'll ask Boyd to do an in depth review of the prelude to the M20 series, the Mite). If he does, you can expect some serious and fun reading about this amazing "little airplane". Meanwhile, I first met Boyd, I dunno, about 12-15 years ago in taking a local Mooney there for a pre-purchase inspection. I was amazed at Boyd's deep knowledge of each Mooney model and marveled at this ability to go to the "weaker points" of a particular Mooney model in order to inspect that part of the bird first. Boyd is not the excitable type and he has the best bedside manor of any mechanic I have ever used. He seems to be able to calmly explain to the potential buyer what is commonly amiss on a particular model and if that particular plane has what ever malady, what can and should be done about it, and once done, the airplane will be just fine. I mention this because I have had some shops blow a deal simply because of the bedside manor they use as ways to prepare their customers for an open checkbook... Boyd understands that there are no perfect used airplanes out there, he just wants them to be in a safe operating condition without the alarm that goes to frighten some first time buyers so much, that I have even had some scared out of buying an airplane at all! Don't get me wrong, I too am interested to insure an airplane I am involved in is a safe airplane, and not some money pit (however, every airplane owner deserves to sell his airplane if he wants to); it's just that the price should be adjusted or negotiated in order to put the plane back in to airworthy condition and a potential buyer is not chased away by the "excitable" type mechanic or even those with the "hero" complex. They are not doing our potential airplane owners any favor at all. I have yet to introduce any customer to Boyd that did not end up being glad they are involved with such a knowledgeable and thorough mechanic such as Boyd is. You can bet that if you take your plane to Boyd Maddox, you will have a good, safe airplane returned to you and with a bill that is not anywhere near the National Debt such as some bills I have seen from some shops who are simply in it all for the buck. Boyd is one of the few remaining Mooney people that are in it for the love of the animal, the appreciation for the wonders of engineering that went in to the Mooney airplane.

It was a bit of a chore to get a humble person like Boyd is to write about himself, but I wanted you to get to know him as I do, and if you can ever work out taking your plane to the Houston area for an annual or repair, you will be happy you did!

Here is Boyd Maddox in his own words: (get ready for some fascinating reading!)

I had wanted to fly ever since I was a little boy and when I started my Junior year in college at Fresno State in California, I was living on one of E. L. Cord’s ranches in Nevada, 98 miles from Bishop California. To get to Fresno to register I hired Bob Simmons, a well known area pilot to fly me over the Sierra Mountains to Fresno in his Tri-Pacer. Bob was known for his flying the Sierra’s at night looking for lost hikers and skiers and for the many recourse that he held for his skill with a glider. Bob had lost on of his legs some years before while bailing hay. He was stomping hay into the bailer and bailed his leg, Bob would drop me off at Hammer Field, fly on up to Sacramento to visit his daughter and then come back by and pick me up for the trip home. On one of the flights Bob contacted the tower and asked for a straight in approach and the denied the request, guess what we did a straight in. At that time Hammer Field was used as a fighter-training base and had large, and I do mean large, chains across the end to stop runaways. Bob made some wise remark, like do you think those chains will stop me. When we got on the ground tower told us to come to the tower, Bob taxied up to the tower, where they were waiting. Bob got out and they saw who it was and said “ hell Bob why didn’t you say it was you” and that was it. Bob picked me up later that afternoon and explained that he had flown back using the autopilot and had read the Saturday Evening Post. After we got in the plane Bob asked if I would like to fly home? "You Bet" was the answer. Well we took off and headed straight got the Sierra’s, as we got closer we were well below the top of the mountain. Bob told me to fly up a certain canyon and to fly as close as possible to the left canyon wall, with his help we got so close that you could see the shadow of our wing tip. At this point the wind picked us up and over the mountain we went. I’ll never forget that unbelievable feeling, but never tried it again either. When we crossed over the mountain we looked straight down, from about 14,000 feet and there was the airport at Bishop.

After I got settled in school I made my way out to Hammer Field and Found Fred, the local instructor. Fred owned a J3 and a PA11 that he taught in, II think that it cost $10.00 an hour for the plane and $3.00 for the instructor. After 5.5 hours (editor note: Boyd beat my 4.6 hours to solo) Fred turned me loose and away I went. After flying around for a bit I come back downwind wiggled my wings and got the green light to land. What I didn’t know was that the wind had come up while I was gone and it was a crosswind. Fred was a nerves wreck , I managed to get her down without bending anything and all was well. Fred later got one of those new tri-cycle geared Champs and I loved to fly it, hell it even had a radio and a homing device, looked like volt meter that swung from side to side. One day I was out Northeast of Fresno, above Madera flying along the hillside and down a country road after having stopped at a friends house for lunch. As I was cruising along the road over hill and dale at about a foot off the ground I crested a hill and met a car. Scared the hell out of both of us, I pulled back as hard as I could and away I went, when I looked back the car was about a hundred feet off the road in the wheat field. Guess he was Ok, I didn’t go back to look.

While I was in College I lived with three other fellows in a large house that we had rented for the year. One of the fellows was also a pilot and bought an old Champ. We took it apart, brought it home and proceeded to rebuild and recover it in the living room and on the dining room table. We would go over to Chowchilla and visit with some Crop duster friends of Bob’s to advise. Well we finally got it done and put it together, a damned good job if I do say so myself, but now what? We knew that we had to have it inspected but how? We talked to our crop duster friends and they said that we should fly it over to a mechanic at the Coalinga airport and that he would sign it off. Well we flew over there but the runway was under water so we landed in front of the hangar. An old fellow come out and asked “can I help you boys” and we said that we were looking for so-and so (can’t remember his name) and he said that’s me. We told him the story of us rebuilding the plane and that a friend had told us to bring it to him and that he would sign it off. He looked a us for a bit and than asked where we had come from and we told him Fresno. He said well I guess if you made it to here it is OK and signed it off. Maybe that is where I started my A&P Trek.

One day I went out the field and the ramp was empty of everything that I was used to flying. I was upset to say the least, I told Fred I wanted to fly today but there wasn’t anything for me to fly. Fred said "aw just take the Ercoupe over there". I said I have never been checked out in it to which he said you don’t need to be, just drive it down to the end of the runway, do a run-up, mag check and go. I said then what? He said push the throttle in all the way, when the nose wheel shimmies lift it off and away you go. I said how do I land it and he said at 70, so off I went. I loved to fly that thing! Just drive it around the sky. I had even used it on my long cross-country to Monterey. I flew along with the window down and my arm on the windowsill while my instructor slept.

While I was in College I lived with three other fellows in a large house that we had rented for the year. One of the fellows was also a pilot and had bought an old Champ. We took it apart, brought it home and proceeded to rebuild and recover it in the living room and on the dining room table. We would go over to Chowchilla and visit with some Crop duster friends of Bob’s for advice. We finally got it done and put it together, a damned good job if I do say so myself, but now what? We knew that we had to have it inspected but how? We talked to our crop duster friends and they said that we should fly it over to a mechanic at the Coalinga airport and that he would sign it off. We flew over there but the runway was under water so we landed in front of the hangar. An old fellow come out and asked “Can I help you boys?” and we said that we were looking for so-and so (can’t remember his name) and he said, “That’s me.” We told him the story of us rebuilding the plane and that a mutual friend had told us to bring it to him and that he would sign it off. He looked at us for a bit and then asked where we had come from and we told him Fresno. He said well I guess if you made it to here it is OK and signed it off. We later sold it to the Cal Poly Flying Club. Maybe that is where I started my A&P Trek.

After I got my license and between my junior and senior year, I went back to the home Ranch, a 450,000 acre ranch that ran from Victorville and over the San Bernardino mountains. There was a small airport on the road between the headquarters and Victorville so when Daddy and I would go to town (30 miles of dirt road) we would stop at the Hesperia Airport and go for a ride. Sometimes we would go hunt for strays, check fences or just have fun. When we would get home Mother would want to know where we had been and what had taken us so long? Daddy would always say, “Oh you know Boyd Lee, he just had to stop at the airport and go flying.” It was Daddy’s idea every time. The airport manager Dale was quite a drinker so when he would have a charter and wasn’t up to it he would have me come along and fly the charter, got some good experience in and out of the LA basin. One day I went out to the Airport and the only plane on the ramp was a Tri Pacer but it was grounded due to a bad toe out that made the gear spread to the point that the tail would drag on takeoff. Dale said Oh it’s Ok just do short fields and be careful. It was like flying a tail dragger with a nose wheel. Often wondered what would have happened if the bungee had broken? But I flew it quite a bit that way before they fixed it as I was the only one he would let fly it. Guess he didn’t care if it killed me.

About a year or so later I was living on the Alvord ranch in Oregon. The Alvord was located 150 miles north of Winnemucca, Nevada, 125 miles south of Burns Oregon and 90 miles from Boise Idaho. We had a PA18-125 Super Cub that we flew out of the horse pasture. When we wanted to go flying we would get someone to run the horses off the runway so we could take off. When we got back we would buzz them until they got off and then landed.. We used to fly to Burns to get our haircut.

During deer season another fellow and I would take turns flying hunters out to spot deer. We would charge them $20.00 a head and let them pick the buck with the rack that they wanted. We would then go back, land, get the jeep and go shoot the deer, bring the deer back where we would hang him up to be dressed out while the other fellow took the next hunter up. We would do as many as 20 flights apiece a day each. The ranch was loaded with all kind of game. One of my great regrets is that I didn’t go with my partner and a crop duster pilot from Burns to Alaska in his Tri Pacer. Since I didn’t go, they took the Super Cub on tandem gear and paid for all their gas with 5 gallons of straight Moonshine.

Over the next few years I flew around the West Coast until the company that I was working for put a stop to my flying. A few years later I followed my paycheck to Houston, Texas where I have lived ever since. Ten years after the company had stopped my flying a friend gave me 5 hours of flying at Fletcher Aviation in Houston. They were Grumman American dealers so I flew their Cheetah, Traveler, TR2 and Tiger. After about 3 hours my instructor said, “You’re done and ready to go fly by yourself.” I said, “Oh no I’m not. Now you have to teach me how to use these radios.” I had never flown where you had to use a radio. I made several trips to California without ever turning the radio on. One time I was ferrying a Cherokee 140 to California and finally got one radio and the transponder to work at about El Paso Texas. I landed at Lordsburg New Mexico and called the motel for someone to pick me up at the airport. They said that someone would be there in a few minutes. A little while later the city police showed up and gave me a ride to the motel. They were also the local taxi.

After I started to fly again I began hanging around Pearland Airport and D & N Flying Service. D & N was a small one-man operation that was very laidback to say the least, as was Jim Dukes the owner. Pearland wasn’t much better with its two runways, one 1,600 feet long and the “long” one being 1,800 feet long and located right in the center of town. I’m not sure what came over me but one day I decided I wanted a Cherokee 6 and set out to find one. I found one at Cleburne, so Sam brought it down for me to fly. It was a 260 hp and I wasn’t impressed at all. I later found a 300 horse N9000N right in my back yard. I flew it and wound up buying it. While I was getting checked out in it we flew over to Gulf Port Airport and on landing I locked the brakes up and smoked the tires. Fred the owner ate my a$$ out so bad that I couldn’t sit down for a week, but I never locked up another wheel. After the 6 came a Cessna 150 and another and another until I had a total of eight planes at the school.

I had read about the Mooney and decided that that was the plane for me - fast and economical. So again off I went in search of my dream plane. I found it in Waco. With Gene Dukes (no relation to Jim) in tow off we went to Waco to do a pre-purchase. Gene pronounced the plane sound and after a short flight I made the deal and brought N4725V, a 1964 M20E home. This is what began my love affair with the Mooney Airplane. I flew that Mooney in and out of Pearland for years to the West and East Coasts until they closed the airport. On one of my West Coast trips I remember making the whole trip without a sign of brake. When I got back to Pearland I knew I had my hands full on the short runway but I put her down, opened the door and run one wheel and then the other in the mud until I got her slowed down enough to make the turn at the end

Over the years I flew the Mooney to Tennessee quite often to see my daughter. On one occasion I landed at Sewanee at night with no lights, in a matter of minutes police surrounded me. The Chief arrived shortly and said, “Oh it’s only Boyd. It's okay.” At Sewanee you would land, tie down, and go into the office and leave a note with the fueling instructions on it. When you were ready to leave you would go in and get your fuel ticket, imprint your credit card and leave.

After I had owned my Mooney for a while I decided that it was time to upgrade the instrument panel and get my IFR ticket after I had scared the sh— out of myself scud running. Since the Mooney was now without anything that resembled a panel, I started flying a Rally 150. The Rally was a full STOL aircraft and a ball to fly. It had barn door Fowler flaps and leading edge slats that would pop out when the speed got low enough. You could pull it back to a full stall and do a falling leaf while all the time having full aileron and rudder control to the point that you could put in rudder and flat turn a full 360 degrees. I used to fly up to the airport, a couple of miles out, put it into a full stall, rotate it to runway heading, apply power and make a normal straight in landing. To do a STOL takeoff you would put in 40 degrees of flap, push the throttle all the way in and as soon as the airspeed needle moved, quivered, you would pull her off the ground. Well I did my training and went to do my check ride; I was again doing it with Sandra Proviezano. When we got done we headed back into Hobby Airport to do the final ILS, I had been telling Sandra about this amazing airplane and asked if she would like to see a full STOL landing and foolishly she said, “Yes”. Now I could show what this plane could do. I slowed her down, put in all the flaps and pointed her straight down, At this point Sandra asked if it was too late to change her mind and I replied, “Yep”. We landed and turned off and on to the run up area that was about a 150-foot roll. I passed my check ride.

While at Pearland I met a fellow that had a Cessna 310R, he asked if I would like to get my multi rating and I said sure. We would fly that thing in and out of Pearland with four people and full fuel. We would run it up at the very edge, release the brakes and hold it on the ground until you could see what the people at the end of the runway were having for lunch and then lift it off. When it came time for me to take my flight test, the examiner asked, give me an accelerated stop and I said, “You can’t you die!” She said, “That is right and we aren’t going”. I finally took my test in Galveston in a Seneca that I flew back from Tulsa on one engine and then the other.

One Christmas I was on my way to Dallas for Christmas dinner and just about College Station, Center asked me to slow down 5 knots as I was overtaking another Mooney. I asked what it was and heard back that it was a 231. I backed off as requested and then went back to my cruise setting 24/24 square. Again Center asked that I slow down and gave me another altitude so I could go on my merry way. That made my day -- an old 64 having to slow down for a nice new 231!!!!

Charlie Dugosh got me interested in the Mooney Mite so I set out to learn everything I could about the little airplane. After a lot of research I started looking for one. After looking at dozens I found the one I was looking for, N4161 an M18C-55 for $9,000 at Antioch, California. It was orange and needed work. I bought it, borrowed a sailplane trailer and drove to California to get it. Single handedly I took it apart and loaded it into the trailer and hauled it home. When I got here I stripped it and spent the next 8 years restoring it. I was just about done with N4161 when Gordon Baxter sent word that he was going to Dallas to see Al Mooney for some final editing on the Al Mooney Story so I said that I had a ”Baby Book” covering the history of N4161, would he like to take it along and get Al to sign it. He did and as Al looked through it, it triggered memories of the past. He had a box of photos brought out and ask Gordon if he would like to use some of them in the book. The book was already at the printers and that is why most of the pictures are in the middle of the book. The day before the Mooney Homecoming she was complete and ready to be test flown. I climbed in and away I went. When I got back on the ground I had a couple of squawks that I took care of that night. The next morning I got up, pushed her out and at 130 mph, I had slicked her up a bit, the next stop was Kerrville, Texas. What a wonderful experience!!! Needless to say she won People’s Choice Award. I might also mention that none other than Mr. Bill Wheat himself originally signed it off when she left the factory.

For Mooney’s 40^th anniversary the factory invited me to bring N4161 to the party, which I did. Much to my surprise when she was displayed between two new Mooneys they all had basically the same paint scheme. A great party was held in Al Mooney Park. After awhile they asked if I would do a flyby with a new 201. “Sure, it would be a privilege.” I replied. Then they started looking for someone to fly with me. The only one available that hadn’t had a toddy was Jacques Esquelair, the then Mooney CEO. We went over to the factory and while on our way over there Jacques kept insisting that it would be impossible for him to fly slow enough for me to keep up. But I assured him that I would do my best. We took off in formation and I was airborne long before the 201 so when he made his left turn out I was on his wing. From there on it was neck and neck, I crossed over the party at 160mph (a little over red line). After several passes, during which Jacques could only say, “oh shit oh shit”, we landed back at the field and Jacques couldn’t stop talking about the little 65 hp mite! He was truly amazed.

As I said before, at one time I had eight (8) airplanes at D & N Flight School in Pearland and as you know you just can’t afford the maintenance on that many airplanes. So under the tutorage of Gene Dukes I started maintaining my own airplanes and eventually got my A & P and in 3 years my IA (authorization to do the FAA’s paperwork for them). In 2000 I retired from Shell/Texaco, ending my long career as a mechanical engineer and started working in the shop full time. One of the more interesting Mooenys that I had the privilege of working on was a Porsche Mooney. I first got the plane registered in the US from Canada and then started an Annual. The compressions were terrible so I called the factory Porsche mechanic. After I had talked to him for awhile, he said I normally don’t tell mechanics this, since he charged $200 an hour, but if you will set the valves every 100 hours that will take care of your low compression. I hated the single push bar for throttle, prop and mixture. I could never get it smooth I was either full on or full off. I didn’t like the 3 or was it 4 electric fuel pumps that you had to have on for it to take off; I learned that the hard way.

After that I started working on a number of Mites and would go get them and bring them home to my place for repair and/or annuals. On one such trip I was headed back from Lufkin with one that had been bellied in and was skirting the Houston TCA when someone spotted me and reported that there was a Mooney inside the TCA. Center tried to find me but couldn’t. I was STEALTH. The silhouette was the same. When I got home my chase plane said, “We know where you have been.” Center has been advising everyone that there was an unidentified Mooney out there that wasn’t talking or squawking and to be on the lookout for it. I couldn’t squawk or talk because I didn’t have electrical. I finally talked Charlie Dugosh into selling me his #13 mite and the very last M18C-55 that the factory made but never assembled. Now I have a brand new 1955 Mite waiting to be assembled. (Editors note: you can bet that when Boyd does it, we'll do a blow by blow).

By now my hangar was starting to overflow so Emily and I built a new 2-plane maintenance hangar so that I could devote the house hangar to the mites and their pending restoration. The new hangar is designed with white floors, insulated white walls, electric plugs every 10 feet, piped in air and an air conditioned shop. You pull the plane that you are working on straight in and have at it. I take care of about 25 older Mooneys and a number of others make and I do 30+ annuals a year. I have tried to become a Mooney Service Center over the years but apparently they think I’m too small. (Editors note: Big mistake for Mooney!) Last year (2006) they promised that they would be talking to me but you know where that went. I’m very happy with my loyal customers and am happy with things the way they are.

I just sold my 1965 M20E to Bill Knight in Kentucky with Richard’s help. I just wasn’t flying it enough to justify keeping it. Let’s face it I have 25 Mooneys ranging from Mites, M20E, M20C, M20F, 201 and 231 at my disposal anytime I want to go somewhere. If not one of the Mooneys Emily has her 152 OR WE COULD DRIVE OUR 1967 Shelby Cobra. (Editors note: One Badass Cobra!)

Did I tell you that our house connects to the Hangar and that it has an elevator in it? That’s another story. BOYD.

Editor's note: That's another story to come hopefully soon! There is a collection of metal model cars, trucks, service stations, and airplanes all encased in glass at Boyd and Emily's gorgeous 3 story home built at the rear of one of their hangers!

Well there you have it. Boyd is a golden remnant and the epitome of the saying: "OLD SCHOOL". While we all have to deal with the new generation's workers who don't seem to know their butt's from a fuel tank inlet, the true dyed in the wool caring craftsmen still exist....barely.

Boyd keeps very busy with travel, building a super hanger, and spending time with his beautiful and spunky wife Emily; but if you get the chance and Boyd makes the time for you (tell him the "zef" sent you) you and your Mooney-Bird will benefit greatly by just having Boyd take a look at it.

Meanwhile, we at Mooneyland will endeavor to bring you more articles and bios of some of the finest Mooney types still at it, and even some who have since retired. (are you listening Charlie Dugosh?) We hope you have enjoyed the articles. I know that I have!

******IMPORTANT MESSAGE FROM BOYD MADDOX, A TRUE OLD-SCHOOLER MOONEY MAN TO YOU!******

Just a little insight in to the Dugosh Aviation Mooney maintenance base at Kerrville, TX, the birthplace of all Mooneys!:

For about 4 straight years, I did my 201's annuals basically myself, at least the grunt work of it, and then I would have an IA I knew come in his truck, inspect the plane, and then take the logs home for work, and in those days I would get an annual bill of around $250.00! Well, on the 5th year, I decided to spring for an annual at Dugosh knowing that in case we missed anything, Dugosh would find it! Surprisingly, my beloved 201 sailed through the annual with nary a squawk, except......while David Behrens (a wonderful Mooney mechanic in his own right) and I were mulling over my 201 initially, Ronnie Kramer (Dugosh owner) was shooting by toward the other end of his shop at very high speed when all of a sudden he put the brakes on his tennies. He skidded to a stop from his high speed movement, zeroed in on a hairline crack on my spinner's bulkhead, and said "you'd better replace that", and then took right off again. He was right on as usual, my spinner was in danger of coming off and could even take the tail with it in that event. This guy doesn't miss a thing, even at high speed!

Vannette? What can I say other than this is one of the nicest and most knowledgeable hard working people I have ever met! Chances are that if you call Dugosh, you'll speak with Vannette Bollier; one of Dugosh's treasures.

All of the above articles and articles to come are people who love the Mooney so truly that many of them would do the work for free if it were feasible financially. These are the types of folks that you can trust your family's well being to!

zef

You need THIS and THIS

(Package price available) and THIS

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Ronnie Kramer - Owner	Bill Wheat
Aircraft service years: 38 including 4 years in the Air Force. Mooney AC Experience: 31 years Licenses: A&P - I.A.	Mooney AC Experience: 40+ years