Mooney has made its first delivery to a Chinese customer since coming under new Chinese ownership last year. CEO Jerry Chen said the M20TN was built at its U.S. factory in Kerrville, Texas, and then disassembled for placement in a shipping container. “After the airplane arrived in Zhengzhou in China we reassembled it and then delivered it to our first Chinese customer,” Chen said in an email to AVweb. “The whole process was under FAA/CAAC supervision and it’s a remarkable milestone to both Mooney and our partner company in China.” Chen said it’s the first of many new Mooneys headed to China, which will eventually have a production facility of its own.
For now, M20s will be built in Kerrville and shipped to China but Chen said made-in-China versions of the new M10 models are envisioned. “We are planning to establish a new M10 production line in Henan China which aims to service the future Chinese market,” Chen said. A report in a Chinese news service said the recently delivered M20 “rolled off the line” in China but Chen confirmed that is not the case.
