Mooney certifies the Acclaim making it the fastest certified piston in production (and taking bragging rights from columbia).
Thoughts on success of the Acclaim?
Mooney will always have its loyalist following. Most Mooney owners are repeat buyers and have tremendous brand loyalty. I think the problem they’re going to have is that the newer pilots who can afford to purchase their own aircraft will be more inclined to buy a Cirrus, Columbia or Diamond then a Mooney.
Mooney seems to see their main competitor as Columbia. I get this from reading letters sent out to the distributors. Also, I was amazed at the amount of people buying new Mooney’s that have owned a Mooney before.
Cirrus has been much more successful in getting first time buyers, but while this is great for them and the industry, it doesn’t say anything bad about Mooney. When selling planes, I never lost a customer to Cirrus if I could demo them in a new Mooney.
Mooney and Beech have seen a resurgence in orders with the G1000, but I believe that anyone wanting to continue for long will need new models to compete.
In the meantime, completely ignoring first time owners would not be a short term disaster. Previous owners make up the vast majority of buyers for all high performance planes (except possibly Cirrus). They are also much easier to do business with.
Now, success for the Acclaim? Define success. They can likely sell over 50 a year for a few years. Maybe up to 100. Combine that with similar Ovation sales, and it’s a good amount of cash and enough for their business to keep going.
In the long run though, new models will be needed. It’s a gamble though, and could break the bank if not successful. Aviation is a strange industry and I learned that a lot of things that seemed like easy decisions on the outside, are not easy at all once you put together a biz plan.
It will soon be 2 years and about 150 hours on my Ovation which is over 2200 TT and was used in a flight school. I have had a stellar maintenance history with the plane. In fact, its been too good. I keep having thoughts of a twin not being such a bad idea, and then have to remind myself of things I have known about the costs of maintaining them. The Acclaim is essentially a turbo Ovation, and so I would have to give it a good quality endorsement. These are great planes for people who like to travel long distances. The trouble of getting in and out the small door is overwhelmed by the seat comfort and roominess inside. Just don’t take a nap while PIC!
I’ve had my SR22 for about a year now and I love it. That doesn’t mean I don’t want Mooney to sell as many Acclaims as they can build. I think a company like Mooney is great for GA. In fact, I hope they continue to push the envelope and keep the others on their toes.
Even though I love my Cirrus and will probably be loyal to them, the last thing I would want would be for Mooney to fail. We all know what happens to quality when the competitors are gone. Go get em Mooney!!
say goodbye to Columbia. They sold 9 350’s (cirrus SR22) and now with the cirrus turbo out and the mooney with fastest plane, i don’t know if they can survive, being they only sell 400’s
what are your fuel flows and speeds with the ovation
I have an original Ovation, so it’s a bit slower than the new ones with the new prop and an engine not near TBO.
I can get 178 to 182 on 14.5 to 15 gph
LOP I get 165 to 174 on 11.5 to 12.5 depending on altitude (sometimes less fuel above 14,000).
Mine has only once gotten me to a CAS of 182, so it takes those perfect conditions that the Manufacturers use. Given my close to TBO engine and a dirty belly, I have to say that the book’s 185 is not out of line. Perhaps the problem is that my engine won’t take the book fuel amount at a proper lean (50 rich of peak by the book.)
I run LOP mostly, so it doesn’t matter. I only go rich when up real high as my engine doesn’t seem to run well LOP that high, and the fuel savings drops off up there as well.
Given that the 400 is more profitable, and they seem to be selling them rather quickly, I wouldn’t worry at all. The hail storm may have also set them back as its much harder to sell planes with a long back order.
I think you will see them keeping up with Mooney anyway.
2 questions
- does anyone have an acclaim POH
- an ovation 3 POH
they don’t seem to have them online
If you are seriously interested in a plane, the salesman should be able to get you a POH for the plane you want to buy unless it has yet to be printed. Otherwise, it will likely be a while before you can see it online because aviation companies are just bassackwards when it comes to using he internet.
Columbia should build a retractable plane; Take bragging rights back from mooney. it would most likely do 250+ knots?.. Or certify the prop jet. That would be cool 
But on the other hand, do they have enough money and/or would a goal for them be to have the fastest plane (compromising insurance and useful load with the retractable)
There is an RG columbia, it’s just called the Lancair IV! 
lancair.com/Main/iv_ivp.html
http://www.lancair.com/Main/secondary_page_images/ivp1.jpghttp://www.lancair.com/Main/secondary_page_images/ivp2.jpghttp://www.lancair.com/Main/secondary_page_images/ivp3.jpghttp://www.lancair.com/Main/secondary_page_images/ivp4.jpg
Yea, so it’s not made by columbia, and it’s an experimental, but who cares! (that’s one sweet looking ride!)
Performance
Cruise 330 mph @
24,000 ft. (typical)Fuel Consumption 18-22 gph (typical)
Maximum Range 1550 sm
(with reserves @ 8,000 ft.)Endurance 6 hours
Rate of Climb 2,000 fpm (solo),
1,500 fpm (gross)Takeoff Distance 1,500 ft. (gross @ sea level)
Landing Roll 1,900 ft.
Stall Speed 75 mph (dirty);
73 mph (dirty and with optional winglets