Mooney Aerospace Group Ltd. President J. Nelson Happy and Mooney Airplane Co. Director of Production Robert Collier recently completed manufacturing facility site inspection of CAG (Construcciones Aeronauticas de Galicia) in Ribadeo (Lugo) Spain. The Mooney team was accompanied by members of an international aerospace consortium including David Broadbent of BAE Systems and Christian Nielsen of Foxton Investments Ltd. During this visit, the group inspected manufacturing equipment and procedures. They also performed demanding test flights of the Toxo II, the company's sport plane soon to be sold by Mooney in North America renamed the Speedster.

Collier and Nielsen, both former US Navy jet pilots, incorporate an in-depth knowledge of aviation to the Speedster project. According to Collier, "This airplane flew like a jet. I enjoyed every minute. The Toxo II cruises at 180 mph and has a maximum speed of 230 mph. This is awesome performance for an airplane equipped with a 120 hp engine."

After a test flight, Happy commented, "Getting in and out of the Toxo was easy, and I was particularly impressed by the plane's superior quality of workmanship and materials. The extensive testing program performed by CAG translates into an outstanding performer."

Mooney Aerospace Group expects to offer this plane to the North American market as a "home build" kit, as well as a "factory-assisted" version, with the factory assembling something less than 49 percent of the work.

According to Nielsen, this represents a price spread of about $35,000.00 for the "home build" kit to $69,000.00 for the "assisted" version.

Collier will return to Spain later this month to personally assemble a kit.

"We at Mooney are excited to enter the increasingly popular sport airplane market. Offering these two versions of the Speedster at under $75,000 will open the door for many new pilots seeking the Mooney flying experience. Celebrating our 50th year in general aviation, with well over 8,000 Mooneys flying worldwide -- renowned for speed, design and safety -- constitutes a strong foundation for launching the Speedster," added Happy.

FMI: www.cag-sl.com, www.mooney.com