Factory Tour

IN CELEBRATION OF OUR 20TH YEAR SPECIALIZING IN MOONEY AIRCRAFT; Get your BRAND NEW PRE-PUBLISHED BOOK AVAILABLE FOR YOU NOW! "THOSE MOONEY AIRPLANES" by Richard Zephro; studying the Mooney since 1974; 38 year private pilot/owner of Mooneyland and author of the articles within this website. FLYING IS NOT CHEAP! Within this book we will discuss not only how to save money while owning your own airplane, we will discuss ways to save big bucks on purchase, ownership, maintenance, appearance (lipstick), and upgrades. Further; we will discuss matters of safely operating your prized BIRD, why Mooney is the safest (by far) in its class, and aid in the pure FUN of owning your own airplane. BOOK INCLUDES 25 CHAPTERS OF INFORMATION FOR MOONEY ENTHUSIASTS, OWNERS, AND ASPIRING OWNERS OF MOONEY AIRCRAFT IN PARTICULAR, APPLICABLE TO ALL AIRCRAFT OWNERS IN GENERAL AND INCLUDES 100 HOUR/ANNUAL INSPECTION GUIDE AND ALL ABOUT MOONEY AIRCRAFT; HOW TO KEEP THEM SAFELY FLYING (ON THE CHEAP) DO IT YOURSELF STUFF, WHAT TO WATCH FOR, AND INCLUDES 124 FULL SIZE PAGES OF INFORMATION AND PHOTOS. (Includes some reprints and references from Mooneyland and tons of NEW information at your fingertips) 2 NEW CHAPTERS JUST ADDED: "HOW MUCH DOES IS COST TO OWN AN AIRPLANE" and "MEMOIRS OF A MOONEY BUYER".

GET YOUR PDF COPY IN ADVANCE OF PUBLICATION EMAILED DIRECTLY TO YOU FOR $39.95; A TEN DOLLAR SAVINGS PRIOR TO PUBLICATION. CLICK ON THE "BUY NOW" PAYPAL LINK BELOW, PURCHASE THE BOOK AND I WILL PERSONALLY EMAIL IT TO YOU IMMEDIATELY. (2MB) in size. (this is the first of a series of must have books to come by author; Richard Zephro and you will automatically receive any updates, revisions, & additions to this BOOK).

Enjoy & learn, learn, and LEARN! Richard "zef" Zephro

Package deal of the Mooney Kit of 3 available at a discount (see main Mooneyland.com or Master Navigation page for details)

You need THIS and THIS

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I don't know........ Sometimes I get so caught up in the MOMENT that I forget to take pictures. Back in my old Film Biz days I had spent countless hours with Celebrities and I didn't take many photos! The reason I state that is because I must have been on dozens of Mooney Factory Tours taking customers there to see for themselves how their Mooney was put together; and yet I didn't take many photos.

Well, I came across Dave Morris' Website: www.AirWaveProductions.com and viewed Dave's photos of the factory tour that he took upon one of his visits to Kerrville, so I asked Dave if I could re-print those photos on this website for the enjoyment of my "Mooneylanders". Dave being a great guy said yes, and so here it is below.

Dave makes and sells air-shot videos of interesting places that many of which you can only see from the air; and of course Dave flies his Trusty older Mooney to film even in the new Blue Ray format. You may want to take a look at Dave's offerings.

Mooney Factory Tour

Mooney Factory Tour - JPEG Still Photos
Welding the steel cockpit cage	Note to M20A owners: This is one of the original buildings. Those marks on the floor are old 1960 vintage glue drips from where the wooden wings used to be assembled	Upholstery shop - At left a door being padded and upholstered
Electrical assembly area	Wiring harness test equipment	Airfoil leading edge formers
Two story tall press	IMG_1595a.jpg	IMG_1595b.jpg
IMG_1595c.jpg	IMG_1595d.jpg	Parts before and after press
The press used to create those parts	Hammer press, and in foreground, a just pressed part showing how much excess must be cut off after pressing	Paint area with parts of a just-painted composite cowl
Final assembly hall	Wing being assembled	IMG_1601a.jpg
Wing in the jig during assembly	IMG_1602a.jpg	Assembled wing can now be rolled over to where the fuselage is waiting
Assembled wing can now be rolled over to where the fuselage is waiting	Parts of the empennage being assembled	This is the whole cockpit - steel cage - on a rotisserie
Aft fuselage sections being skinned	Cockpit underside being assembled	Fuselage assembly
Firewall	Wing attach cutout	Interior showing steel cage
Interior showing steel cage	Interior showing steel cage	Interior showing steel cage
Four airplanes progressively farther along in the assembly process as they head toward the door	The famous pivoting Mooney tail - fuselage hinge section	The famous pivoting Mooney tail - fuselage hinge section
The famous pivoting Mooney tail - tail section	Last few steps on assembly line. About ready to attach the tail.	Just about ready to have the engine mounted
This is how much engine you can buy with about $40,000	This is how much engine you can buy with about $40,000	Very last steps before roll-out: engine mounted, wingtips added, interior installed, glass installed, etc. Technician is setting the rudder limits.
Aircraft are test-flown unpainted until all QC is completed	Final QC and squawk fixing	zIMG_1588a.jpg
Final QC of aircraft ready for delivery	This airplane is in primer pending the paint scheme decision by the customer	A new Ovation
Interior with Garmin G1000 glass cockpit	Another new Ovation	New Acclaim N311TN being test-flown without paint
This half of the hangar is the Factory Service Center