Mooney M10 testing well along

The highly anticipated general aviation trainer and personal airplane will have a Garmin G1000 avionics suite and a single power lever. The M10 is made from composite materials and will likely include an airframe parachute.

Mooney didn’t say when FAA certification for the M10 will be complete, where the airplane will be manufactured, or when deliveries are likely to begin.

The company also is manufacturing M20 Acclaim and Ovation models at its factory in Kerrville, Texas. The sleek, four-seat, turbo-charged and normally aspirated airplanes have been updated with “Ultra” models that include a pilot’s-side door and a keypad entry system for G1000 avionics suites.

Workers at the Texas factory currently are producing 1.5 airplanes a month, and Mooney officials said that number will increase when the company gets full FAA certification. Mooney never gave up its FAA production certificate when it went into a years-long “hibernation” during which it manufactured no new aircraft—but the FAA oversees it as if it were completely new.

Mooney said it expects to regain full production certification in the third quarter of this year.