15 January 2016
Of all the aircraft manufacturers out there, Mooney is probably the last one you’d think would create a 2/3-seat light aircraft aimed at the pilot training market. Yet it has, and just before Christmas, the Mooney M10T ‘proof of concept’ prototype had its maiden flight.
The fixed-gear M10T, and its sister, the M10J with retractable undercarriage, are clean sheet designs from the Texas company, funded with investment from new owner and CEO, Chinese businessman Jerry Chen.
The first flight was performed by test pilot Len Fox from Chino Airport, California. The flight lasted approximately 15 minutes, with Len Fox conducting basic flight manoeuvres and verifying design data. At the conclusion of the flight, Len Fox was greeted by a crowd of engineers from the M10 team enthused to see the aircraft take flight.
Mooney M10 proof-of-concept aircraft had its first flight in late December 2015.
“The flight was a tremendous milestone for the M10 program,” said Jerry Chen. “Our team of engineers have been working very hard to reach this day, and we are excited to have achieved this milestone in 2015, just one year after announcing the M10 program at Zhuhai Airshow in China.”
The M10T has a carbon-fibre airframe and is powered by the Continental Technify CD-135 turbodiesel engine.
