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  #1  
Old 12-11-2007, 11:23 AM
mcsteatlh mcsteatlh is offline
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kingwood
Posts: 80
Default How Mooney Builds em...

I took a tour of the Mooney factory last week. I was suprise, very suprised, at the amount of "hand built" and "hand fabricated" work the process of building a Mooney airplane is. The outsourcing of parts amounts to nuts, bolts, engine, and aviaonics. That's it. The rest of the plane is either hand cut (fuse), hand welded (fuse), hand rivited(all), or using simple hydraulic presses and lathes to produce aluminum parts. There are two computer CNC machines that put out some parts for sub-assemblies, but that is it for automation. Fiberglass is done in house. Same for wiring, painting as is everything else. What I'm getting at here is building a Mooney is much like building an RV. The work is done by hand, one rivet at a time, and there is nothing fast about it. A single day shift, I was told, could produce seven Acclaims and Ovations a month. I was also very impressed with the attention to detail. The quality control division of the company is rather large and in charge so the details are covered on the construction of the plane.

Just my observations.

McStealth
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  #2  
Old 12-11-2007, 03:17 PM
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cytoxin cytoxin is offline
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: south carolina
Posts: 1,111
Default cooool

man id love a job like that.
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  #3  
Old 12-11-2007, 03:20 PM
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atreff atreff is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 215
Default The Saying amongst those who work on Mooneys...

........is Mooney's are built under the strictest factory orders:

Bend to Fit
then
Paint to Hide.

No two are built the same. Ask any shop that works on em, particularly the pre-201 models M20C/E/F.

Art in Asheville,
1966 M-20C (soon to be for sale)
N666AT Fastback slider
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  #4  
Old 12-11-2007, 06:22 PM
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mannanj mannanj is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Mtns of N.E. Georgia
Posts: 1,322
Default Mooney

I thought the sign read:

Measure it with a micrometer.
Mark it with chalk.
Cut it with an axe.
Hammer it to fit.
Then paint it to match.
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  #5  
Old 12-12-2007, 06:23 AM
jmartinez443 jmartinez443 is offline
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Winter Springs, FL
Posts: 249
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by mannanj View Post
I thought the sign read:

Measure it with a micrometer.
Mark it with chalk.
Cut it with an axe.
Hammer it to fit.
Then paint it to match.
Love the quote. I resemble that remark

Gotta hand it to you on the tail number. N161RL = Number One Girl. GREAT!!!
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QB 8A Fuse. Just battled the ^%&@ing gear weldments. Now I can move on.
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  #6  
Old 12-12-2007, 08:40 AM
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mannanj mannanj is offline
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Mtns of N.E. Georgia
Posts: 1,322
Default N #

Thanks Jorge. My wife and daughters are OK with it. (I think!)
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