Flying the World's Fastest Piston Single-Mooney Acclaim Ultra 

It's funny to see as the guy on the right seat squeezes to the window to make an impression of a bigger cabin for Paul :)

A real shame to see Mooney out of the picture again. Hope they can come back again and stay back. It remains one of my favorite airplanes.

I have owned a Mooney Ovation now for over 11 years. I love the plane and it is roomy, stable, fast and efficient. 75-80 knots over the numbers is way too fast as mentioned in the video. I shoot for 70 over the numbers and that works well for me. Staying ahead of the aircraft is key to flying the fast long bodies and taking advantage of the GFC 700 autopilot is great!

Loving these longer reviews Avweb - I reckon you've responded to a common request. Thanks!

I really was looking forward to this review and it is great as always!

I may not be able to afford it, but I sure love that sassy Mooney tail angle! ✨👍

To the Mooney Community: We are pleased to announce that as of September 1, 2020, a long awaited transition at Mooney took place. There is new management at Mooney and it's made up entirely of pilots and Mooney owners giving the company a unique and valuable perspective going forward. So, on behalf of new management, I wanted to take this opportunity to inform you that the reports of Mooney's death are greatly exaggerated. Mooney is, in fact, very much alive, up and running. You can expect to see some changes at Mooney which we believe are long overdue. Plan to witness a new culture and approach which is reflective of the new ownership's love of aviation, flying an Mooney aircraft. Our first priority is to reengage and rebuild our relationship with the Mooney Community. For those of you who are Mooney pilots and owners, folks that make a living selling or fixing Mooney aircraft, or just fans of Mooney, we want you to know that we recognize that you are our life's blood. You are our best spokespeople, our most informed advocates and our most loyal customers. It is our goal to do right by you and rebuild your trust in Mooney. In fact, our number one priority is to build a customer support infrastructure that can capably reward your loyalty which has been the hallmark of the Mooney consumer for years. Our first and immediate focus is to make sure that we're properly servicing the community's fleet of over 7000 aircraft. For the last 6 months, we've taken over parts production and managed to keep the spares moving to the service centers. We have plans to improve our efficiency so that parts are easier to order and arrive sooner. We're also working on those challenges that have gone unresolved to date. A useful load increase retrofit is in the works. Once this is tackled, it will allow us to consider other design challenges such as a ballistic parachute, auto-land and a larger cabin. As a first step toward earning your confidence, we're pleased to announce that we recently secured FAA approval over and will be offering an upgrade to the Legacy G1000 software. It will allow ADS-B to play with the G1000 so you'll get traffic, free weather and all available approaches on your display. We'll also be offering a carbon cowl for the Ovations which will immediately improve useful load. Coming soon will be the long-awaited upgrade from NXiI to NXiII. We're also working on an upgrade from the G1000 Legacy to NXiI and NxiII. We also want to extend our hand to the Mooney Community outside of the United States. In partnership an in support of the Meijing Group, we have a unique opportunity to create an international Mooney network that reaches the many Mooney owners and operators across the globe while growing their numbers. As the Mooney Community grows, we will all benefit. All of the changes we anticipate are important, exciting and we believe will benefit both Mooney and the Mooney community. But they're not always simple or easy to implement so we ask you to be patient. And as we work on ideas to improve your experience with Mooney, I promise to be in touch with you as we roll them out. Finally, I want to say a brief word about the folks who work at the Kerrville plant. For the last 6 months I've been overseeing a skeleton crew at the factory. They have been tasked with keeping Mooney alive during a period of instability and stress, not to mention a pandemic. They had no idea whether this change in control would ultimately take place or whether Mooney would even continue to operate, but they put their heads down and forged ahead. They are all dedicated workers and people of great integrity and I'm proud of them. They, along with the Kerrville community, including those workers who were furloughed but who sometimes stepped into help, are the heart and soul of Mooney and I thank them. Warmly, Jonny Pollack CEO

Apologies for the re-post. I just missed that 300 year warranty thing in the title.

Find someone to marry that looks at you the way this dude looks at paul. 😂😂😂

As always an honest detailed review on things that matter. Thanks

I think it's pretty awesome what mooney has done with their wing structure, and STEEL CAGE frame. Sure if your not a pilot you can complain about the price...but I would feel very safe in this Mooney.

I will never understand why someone could ever prefer a Cirrus or a Diamond single engine model over such fine aircrafts like these Mooneys! Mooneys look phantastic compared to these ugly Cirrus and Diamond models and have such a lot more style. This is commented here by a proud Bonanza owner (due to cabin space, comfort, baggage compartment, and - yes - style reasons). However, I do envy Acclaim Ultra owners for the phantastic performance of their aircraft. It is a pity that the Mooney company finally had to close its doors apparently forever in January 2020.

Thank you for this review. Great to see Mooney pushing product out the door!

I love these in depth reviews. Well done. Keep 'em coming!

Goodbye Mooney.. Don't think they're coming back this time. Good luck to all the employees you built an amazing product.

This video helped Mooney go out of business. It shows just how impractical this airplane is at this price point. No wonder they couldn't sell 3 of them.

thanks for the precise review

For that money, I could get the Aerostar 702P I've been in love with since I was a kid, and pay for 10 years worth of fuel and maintenance. The Mooney is fast and beautiful, but my bicycle has nearly as much useful load.

Last one I ever flew in was a Bravo. Really looking forward to getting a chance in one of these!

Love the review, Paul, but I'm a Mooney guy. All designs are a compromise. Mooneys are not SUVs. I own a turbo-Mooney, 1985 M20k 231, and owned a 1966 C model for 10 years before the K. I would love to have a new Ultra if I had the $. My useful load in the K model is 877, so with full fuel, that's me, my wife, and 80 lbs of luggage going 1,000 miles at 168 kts true (66% power) burning 11 gph at 12,000 ft. I'm 5'11" and 200 lbs, and have no trouble with the cabin size - it is very comfy for 4 people, and the seating position and panel layout are great for long distances (I've done 6 hours at a time). I live in Colorado Springs, and out here density altitudes are often 10k on the ground (current DA in Durango is 9585 ft.). Most of my flying is just me and my wife, but sometimes we use all the seats. Last weekend, I flew the family me, wife and two kids aged 17 and 21) from Colorado Springs to Durango, and we were at max gross weight (2,900 lbs). So you absolutely can take 4 people on a 1 - 2 hour trip (rather than a 4-6 hour drive). Same profile from Memphis to New Orleans, if you're only going 300 miles (~27 gal needed, so ~40 gal on board), 4 regular people who pack lightly is no problem. No, you can't bring your mountain bike and dogs and golf clubs. So the mission defines the aircraft you fly. I've flown awesome Beech Barons turning two 300hp engines, and yeah, they lift more and have a bigger cabin, and burn 3-4x more fuel for the same distance and speed. If you're frequently carrying 3-4 people and more gear, get one of those. But if your mission is 1-2 people (and that is mostly how people fly), I'd rather have the hella strong and fast Acclaim Ultra over any other piston or turboprop. In fact, a guy flying an MU-2 just walked across the ramp and told me he was going to downsize to a Mooney turbo (his kids grown, just him and his wife now). Last thing, devote this much time and $ to an airplane and you should love how it looks on the ramp. Mooney makes beautiful airplanes.

I suspect you made some corrections/improvements in the second post. It’s too bad the comments get deleted, too. I’ll say it again: Thanks.Excellent report and production.

Awesome review; no beating around the bush here!

beautiful machine thanks for making this video

Excellent report! Well done. That's a lot of money for essentially the payload of a Cessna 172.

2023 Bump ... great content as usual

Nice review Paul.

Love the review, impressive speed but at that price I’d be looking for a used TBM 700

Paul is really an asset for AVweb...

New to your channel, Im a flight simmer that uses vanilla FSX. What fine work, I enjoyed it.

Great plane. Really tight useful load.

A couple years ago I bought a heavily modified 1965 M20E that happily matches that 135 knots indicated at 12500, while only drinking 9 gallons per hour. It's not turbocharged, but it easily handles the high altitude airports I regularly fly in and out of. I love my Mooney and I'd love to see the company stay afloat, but I also can't understand who buys a new aircraft priced at nearly $800k when used aircraft in great condition are available for less than a tenth the price, and a newish RV-7 with low hours is typically available for around $100k. Where are the reasonably priced new GA aircraft?

So it's still true what my prof said a decade or more ago: "Mooneys are small, and don't carry a load, but do so fast." The useful load sounds almost like a joke.

Nice airplane. I am impressed at the center wing spar. No company in the GA piston makes a stronger wing than this Mooney. To get something stronger, you have to get an experimental. See, money can't buy you everything.

Anti Ice or A/C wow, I spend 800K on a plane I'm going to want both. Someone needs to explain what a cool looking cockpit looks like, looks just like Diamond cockpit, 8 inch panel of circuit breakers, small displays, but hey its fast.

Beautiful airplane!

$800,000 and the same payload as my $9,000 C150. I'll wait, thanks.

A 2 person airplane for $750,000. I wonder why they went out of business? Too bad for those guys counting on the warranty.

95% of my flying is solo and I travel light. Useful load means far less to me than speed, and Mooneys are just fantastically beautiful and efficient. Would absolutely snap up this bird if I could.

Great airplane for a guy with no friends!

RIP Mooney.

I like that you cut a person in half and removed the baggage instead of just removed the second person.

I think the useful load make this a no go option in minutes

Love my old Mooney! So much more useful load..

I know we're currently several years removed for this video, and Mooney is now under new ownership. But when do they plan to resume production of these 2 models?

Nice video, thank's. Small detail and maybe I misunderstood it: Do not use the trim to flare your Mooney. Trim before. Other than that, I would buy it. Nice airplane, but too expensive. If you have 800'000 for a piston engine a/c why not spending it on a used turbo prop. Maybe it's just me, but I don't trust piston engines. I had two engine failures (C-421 and Seneca). To be honest, I also had engine failures on multi engine jets. Greets from the 747-8 flightdeck.

Thanks for the good overview video. Yeah, the PRICE will kill this aircraft. The salesman said at 2:20 in the video "Turbine speeds but on a piston budget." The first aircraft that came into my mind when he said that was the Lancair IV-P Turbine. I thought about how much these aircraft cost which is between $300K-700K. So I knew this Mooney with it being a "Certified" aircraft would cost higher than like a Lancair ES (~$200K) and I figured $300K would be about right for the Mooney's price. After all it is NEW and Certified. Then when you stated the price of the base model just under $800K I thought that salesman is a LIER. I will take a Lancair IV-PT for $400K that flies higher (FL290) flies faster (310Kts) and looks way cooler! Nope it is not certified but for my business I do not need a certified aircraft. I will now add Mooney to the list of other Nut Job companies making WAY OVERPRICED aircraft like Carbon Cub, Cerius, and Cessna. No wonder everyone is buying Homebuilts. What kind of a car can one buy for $800K and is WAY more complex to build than a Mooney (yes I know volume). Just saying.

Pretty awesome personal traveling machine.

People are choking when they see the price, but a Mooney is the Corvette of 4 passenger single engine airplanes. It's fast. Period.

did you lose a gopro? @10:26 on the wing vs @10:49

"...and it is hauling ass" haha well put!

is it just me or did you keep switching headsets? Haha it's like a replay of your epaulette additions in the tight traffic pattern video ;)

Great review, with the exception of an overemphasis on the price of the airplane. It seems that the market for this airplane is the owner-entrepreneur who needs to go 500 nm or so fairly quickly, and who will likely, more times than not, be the sole occupant. The purchaser realizes turboprop performance at a smaller operating cost. Then, after 2 years of operation or less, the owner might trade up to a nice late model M500, thus gaining pressurization and an engine type that fails only once for every 117 piston engines that fail. Since that means that the failure rate of a piston engine is 11,700% that of a turbine engine, the Acclaim owner will likely want to limit his or her exposure to the piston engine to the time period mentioned. For the rest of us, a used C182 makes a lot more sense to fly from Here to Podunk International 75 miles away. Finally, Kudos to Mooney for the strong airframe construction, and best wishes to Mooney in reaching the right market that will keep the Acclaim flying for many years to come.

My great nephew has a m20j . I've had many planes throughout the decades. Have two plus an ultra-light. Plus one currently being built. But the main plane is my STOL bush camper. It does this powered by type 1 2300 stroked with ported mofoco heads with very large valves. And low RPM cam. But the trick is my custom-built port fuel injected manifold fed by 2 AMR 500 superchargers with clutches. Also did something really trick for AC. Yes it's air-conditioned! And it will freeze your butt! They only weigh 16 1/2 lbs. There's two one in front one in back. They are semiconductor "peltier" AC units. And since they run with computer fans there's no interference with the Avionics. Also serves as a heater. It has a wing loading of 6.4 And a power loading of 5.6. It is a one off I designed and built myself. Aluminum tube frame. And composite foam and S Glass. Empty weight is 463 lb. Best part of all under $20,000 LOL.

What a dream airplane!

There are several recipe aircraft that utilize Lord type engine mounts.

Just imagine these planes will also go for $30k in just 70 years lol

800K! That’s a nice Used Baron and a cabin in the mountains. I think I’ll stick with my Skylane. I’ll get there a few minutes later with my wife, our friends another couple, my lap dog, all my luggage, etc. ain’t gotta worry about the gear, annuals are a grand a year, insurance is 850 a year. Good luck with selling that thing

Nice airplane, terrible price.

hhmmm I don't know...but 800k for only 2 skinny humans, and 2 normal luggage.... let me think for a while............... zzzzzzz

500th comment on an old vid: Does the sticker price include an onboard defibrillator for that moment when you get the annual service bill after the Fill'n'Fly coverage runs out? :)

Have a 62 M20C and love it, but now have new Mooney envy. Off to get a lottery ticket, only way I'd be able to buy one.

GREAT AIRPLANE REVIEW>...Wish all were like this, full of information, real numbers.... That is a lot of money... I'll stick with my RV-7. Always loved Mooney and gave instruction check outs at the flight club, but it's not for a casual pilot. A 182 is a better choice if you want to haul people and bags, albeit slower.

Other than the fancy electronics and the speed... I prefer our $130k 1979 Lance II with the avco-Lycoming io540..... Waaaaayyyyyy more useful load. Cool airplane and good video!

amateur question: 3 big screens plus an Ipad with this much information... is this really needed today for single engine aircraft? looks like more options than an md11... is that an FMC down in the middle?

Those pop rivets look great around the fuel vent. I would expect them to be blind and totally flush and not even noticeable on an aircraft of that value. Kit built have looked better. So now i see all the aircraft is covered in dome rivets. So for fast aircraft, biggest engine and turbo in smallest airframe. And £620 ($800) to fill at UK Avgas prices.

Best vehicle ever made in my opinion!

Paul can you tell us of what happen to the mooney 301, I think its a fantastic aircraft, pressurise 250 kn airspeed 6 seater fantastic.

Paul is the best !

I’m honestly less concerned about a place to put my jaunty hat than I am about keeping my pax comfortable on a hot day. I think the Cirrus would win for me. Better payload. Better comfort (A/C and cabin volume). Not quite as fast, perhaps, but less likely to need a fuel stop with pax, so that probably works out in trip times. Plus the added reassurance of CAPS...

It's a nice machine. But for about half the price of a new Mooney, one could be riding in a nice Cessna 421 or 414W, carrying all of your bags, in a pressurized/air conditioned cabin with a toilet on board. Oh, with anti-ice as well. For the same amount of money, one could be riding a turbine C90 or a Cheyenne.

I don’t see too many people flying mid teens-low 20,000s with oxygen. Like a lot of people already said- the performance specs on this airplane don’t make much sense.

What happened to the gopro on the right wing? It was there @ takeoff but missing when flying at altitude. 😂😂😂😂

Thanks Mike, another good one. PS, did some research on Rotax vs Continental. The consensus is that the Rotax is a bit more maintenance, but very dependable and runs better ( smoother and less temperature issues than the Continentals) and if you run non-avgas it cuts down more on maintenance.

It's September 2022 and I'm curious... Does Mooney still exist?

I dig the Mooneys... Would love to have one... but I don't understand how a plane with a tank like wing spar can only carry 10 lbs.

I'm gonna start off by qualifying as me not knowing anything about flying, but the option to have air conditioning would that be needed? I'm thinking there must be reason for it to be an option.

One can only but dream!

Looks cool and sounds like a great performer! But at that price it is no surprise that they closed shop.😥

I love electronics,my toilet has auto whip,but is ran by dos 3.0 and the set up program take 7 days to set up.

My dream plane!

89 Gallons are not the ship galleons but the US gallon, right? So 89USgal are 337L x 2,99€/L = 1.007,63€ for one fuel tank in Germany. That's more than double what you pay in the US. No wonder we have so little private planes.

Why don't they do like Diamond, automatic leaning and feathering?

There has to be a solution to these mad prohibitive prices it doesnt make sense an aircraft is mosty a frame and a wing and avionics why does it cost more than a supercar that is also hand built at times

Isn't the P-51 the world's fastest piston single? There are still a fair number of them around, considering how long ago they were built. Not much good for carrying anything but fuel, though :)

I love it so...

Let me get my checkbook out.

3:55 - This is what I find most infuriating with GA. The sales price of aircraft nowadays is something like 4x the national inflation rate and I dare say downright criminal.... It should cost something like $200k, which is still high but palpable.

I know for a fact that a Mooney wing will withstand at least 12.3 Gs and still remain on the airplane. How do I know this? I was at an airport near Trenton, N.J. a few years back speaking with the owner of a maintenance shop who specialized in Mooney aircraft. I happened to notice a Mooney wing standing alone in a vertical position on the side of the hanger wall. I noticed that some of the rivets were popped and the skin was warped and buckled along the wing. I asked the shop owner what had happened. He told me a story of a female medical doctor who was flying the Mooney on autopilot at 17,000 ft in IMC conditions when the wing iced up. The wing eventually stalled and the airplane went into a "split-s" inverted half loop and somehow recovered at about 10,000 ft. The pilot was able to regain control of the Mooney and land the airplane. A subsequent analysis was done and it was computed the Mooney's wing had experienced a G-load of 12.3 Gs. The wing, along with it's single spar remained intact but the skin was warped and buckled. She survived the ordeal. That's about all I know of this event. I've never read a formal report of this event, but should I find it I'll leave a link here. I love Mooneys despite the lack of room in the back seats.

great stuff caps would been nice

Wow - 172 kts true on 11.1 gph is faster and more economical than even the Mooney 201. That is impressive!

Great video! One suggestion, RU-vid likes for the Thumbnail image that is uploaded be 1,280 x 720. This automatically creates a nice large version of the uploaded thumbnail for displaying on websites that want to show a nice intro photo of your video. No complaint, just a heads up to help the distribution of your videos. Thanks!

Anyone know if Mooney is owned by Taiwan Chinese or mainland chinese company? It's tough to get a handle on this one.

9 flush mounted rivets?!!! I gotta get one!

So "Piston Budget" is five times as much money as the house many can barely afford a mortgage for nowadays due to the increasing wealth gap/out-of-control housing costs?

Honestly, if you were living in Alaska, would you skip the anti-ice devise in favour of air conditioning...?

Unfortunately the Acclaim has helped put Mooney out of business! Mooney has always built great airplanes such as the 201 J model which I have about 4,000 hours flying it Yes the Acclaim is fast but a small useful load, not pressurized and way too expensive for the average flyer which means no market.

Mooney needs to develope this airframe design to be more eco friendly and more affordable prices...manufacturers should be looking for their aircraft for future simple electric conversion to beat the new hi tech entrance to the market...

Mooney is Mooney.... No compares!!!!

RDD LX7 is all you should looking at this price point.

A niche market. Me? I'll take a 414 for half the money. Ya get pressurized, AC, deice. The other $400 thou buys a lot of gas and maintenance.