Say What?

Sitting in a wide-ranging Mooney press conference, Tim and I scrambled to keep up. A lot of information was flowing... new personnel.

New investors. New international partners, including BAe and a Russian consortium, which produces among other things, MiGs. A new paint scheme. A new promotional angle which keys off Mooney's fiftieth anniversary this year, and a tie-in with another American icon's fiftieth: Corvette.

So far it was interesting, but pretty routine.

Then, Mooney President J. Nelson Happy dropped the bomb. Mooney will enter the Light Sport Aircraft market with a version of a European light aircraft. Tim and I gaped at each other; this announcement was totally unexpected. The Toxo is currently made by Construcciones Aviones Gallegas (CAG) in Spain. CAG was formed by Jose Luis Miro and Jose Manuel Fernandez and Antonio Castelo. Castelo is the principal designer of the Toxo.

The Toxo broadly resembles the Glasair FT. It's a sexy, sleek low-wing speedster with fixed tricycle gear, two semi-reclining seats, and control sticks.

Mooney will handle the assembly and some parts manufacture in its existing Kerrville, TX, facilities. Mooney will also handle the thankless task of shepherding the Toxo through the certification process. If the currently proposed speed limit remains in the Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft regs, then Mooney also will have to slow the plane down. Because the Toxo is designed to fly with a very wide range of powerplants, this should be possible.

Antonio Castelo spoke to the press, apologizing unnecessarily for his English (beats my Spanish). "It's a composite aircraft, a very fast light sport aircraft."

"Light Sport Aircraft is a new category for us," Nelson Happy said. "It is also new technology for us -- composite pre-preg construction." What makes Mooney interested in other companies' designs? "We are interested if it is a good product and a money maker.... We need to be diversified to make money." Nelson acknowledged Mooney's flirtations with buying other well-known aircraft lines last year, and explained why these post-AASI investments didn't come to pass: "We did look at those lines, and they really were old technology." And that was not where Mooney wanted to go. Hence, Toxo.

"It [the Toxo] will be a 'Mooney,'" Nelson said in answer to my question. "Definitely." And the name? "It already has a name: 'Toxo'. That's the name." The one question we couldn't get answered: Will the tail get turned around?

Stay tuned to Aero-News for the answer.

FMI: http://www.cag-sl.com/toxo_eng/toxo_home.html, http://www.mooney.com/