While enjoying an early morning gathering at the Mooney display on the opening day of Oshkosh, the Texas Speed Demons couldn't help but brag about their latest demonstration of swift travel. Officials with Mooney Airplane Company announced that speed records were recently set for the Ovation DX and Bravo GX as they traveled to Wisconsin to participate in Oshkosh '04.

Pilot Wes Dale flew an Ovation DX non-stop from Kerrville, Texas to Oshkosh, Wisc. with an unofficial total trip time of 5 hours, 8 minutes and 59 seconds, and 28 gallons of fuel left. The unofficial average speed for the 978-nautical mile trip was a blazing 191.5 knots. Dale’s record will be certified by the NAA/FAI as an unlimited piston engine record.

Flying a new Bravo GX, pilot Mike Miles flew from Olathe, Kan. to Oshkosh in 2 hours and 10 minutes, covering 421 nautical miles at an average speed of 200 knots.

“While we have always been known as the highest performing, four-place, single-engine, piston-powered aircraft, these records help solidify this reputation and put us into a league of our own,” said David Copeland, vice president of sales and marketing for Mooney Airplane Company. “We congratulate Wes Dale and Mike Miles for their accomplishments.”

The Ovation is equipped with the efficient and reliable TCM IO-550-G engine, with 280hp MCP, and the standard Garmin avionics stack, including the award winning GNS 430 GPS/NAV/COM. It also comes standard with leather seating and has new customer driven option packages.

The Bravo GX’s inter-cooled Lycoming TIO-540-AF1B delivers 270HP all the way to 25,000 feet at speeds up to 220 KTAS, faster than any other single engine production aircraft made today. The GX has been introduced with a complete Garmin G1000™ integrated avionics flat-panel system including the GDL69A weather uplink and infotainment, the GTX 33 Mode "S" transponder, and the STEC 55X Autopilot roll and pitch.

FMI: www.mooney.com