Mooney Aircraft is to halt production of its M20J Allegro light aircraft and batch-produce the M20K Encore in a move to rationalise its product line.
The Kerrville, Texas-based company is to base production around the longer airframe used for the M20R Ovation and M20M Bravo. Production of the Allegro, which has a shorter airframe, will end in October, while the last of the short-body Encores now on order will be built in August.
The Allegro and Encore each account for 20% of Mooney's annual production, which will total 97 aircraft this year. The normally aspirated Ovation accounts for 40%, with the turbocharged Bravo making up the remaining 20%.
Mooney is to introduce an upgraded long-fuselage version of the entry-level Allegro later this year. Plans for the Encore are still "fluid", the company says, but one concept under study is to accumulate orders until there is a sufficient backlog to warrant production of a batch of aircraft.
After the change, the standard product line will comprise the Ovation, Bravo and upgraded Allegro. The company says its decision to focus on larger, higher-power, models "-allows room for new aircraft development".
Source: Flight International
