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Last updated on 2021-10-12

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NEWS ARCHIVES

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  1. Old MiteTalk
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Fred Quarles has passed away We received notice today that Fredrick Hundley Quarles III passed away on February 21, 2021. He held the M-18 FAA Type Certification and designed the plans for the home built M-18X a few of which are currently flying. His obituary is located HERE.

Mooney Now Under New Management
Per the Mooney website, "As of September 1, 2020, a long awaited transition at Mooney took place. There is new managment at Mooney and it's made up entorely of pilots and Mooney Owners" The new CEO is Jonny Pollack.

“Our first and immediate focus is to make sure that we’re properly servicing the community’s fleet of over 7000 aircraft,” said Pollack on the company’s website. “For the last 6 months, we’ve taken over parts production and managed to keep spares moving to service centers. We have plans to improve our efficiency so that parts are easier to order and arrive sooner.”

As reported on this site, Kerrville employees were furloughed on Nov. 11, 2019. They were recalled in early December when the factory was reopened and furloughed again in early January 2020.

2020-09-04

New link to Mite FAA Registered Owners - For a list of currently FAA registered Mites, we’ve added a link to the top of Owners page to download a .pdf file of all FAA currently registered Mites as of 2020-08-16.

The information on the Owners page was last updated in 2019. It contains information and links to pictures of airplanes many of which do not have a current FAA registration. The FAA requires owners of all aircraft to renew the registration every three years by completing a form and paying a $5 registration fee. Failure to do so will result in the aircaft being dropped from the registry. All "N" numbered aircraft must have a current Certificate of Registration to be considerd airworthy.

2020-08-18

Steve Vets reports: I am the current co owner of N4149E. Sadly it is not currently airworthy. we are looking for some one to repair the wing (any suggestions on some one knowledgeable and experienced) 

Steve Vets smv247@gmail.com
Corvallis, OR

2020-08-13

Another new Mite owner is Dave Twibell. He's looking for help in a restoration. He's in Omaha and would really like a knowledgable Mite restorer to look over what he has. He provedes the following -

"I recently took ownership of N391A. It’s been disassembled for over forty years and I’m starting a restoration. I’m looking for as much information that I can find and a contact for somebody who has restored one and could also point to someone who can judge the condition of all of my wood parts. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I‘m in Omaha Nebraska. Need help with lots of stuff but really need help with judging the quality and work required on all of my wood pieces. Phone number is 912-660-2314 and email is davidtwibell1994@gmail.com.

I’ve got so many parts that I’m just not sure what they go to. The diagrams I have just don’t do things enough justice. I’m also trying to figure out how the instrument panel, rear floor, and side aluminum panels secure to the tubular frame. Another area where the diagrams don’t do it justice. Curious what folks are doing for brake pads and the rubber landing gear doughnuts these days. Would love to find a plane in my vicinity to go look at. I haven’t seen one in almost five years and I never thought I would own one back then. 

Curious what needs to be in the wing, horizontal, and vertical before covering. I would hate to get things covered and then realize I missed something. Also curious how the fuselage is supposed to be covered" 

If anyone is near Omaha, perhaps they could have a look at what he has.

2020-06-30

We've just learned that N383A which fomerly belonged to Woody Gillesie now belongs to Jamie Wallace and will be based in Frankfort, IL.

2020-06-16

Readers may recall that in 2017 Roger Hughes of Corpus Christi, TX had his Mite, N4051, destroyed by Hurricane Harvey. Roger has informed us that he has found a replacement and is now the proud owner of N4065.

2020-04-26

We've received word from Jim Stewart in Zephyrhills, FL that N4070 has been sold and will be going to the Houston, TX area. We hope to have more details soon.

2020-01-21

Internet re-direct for the Mite Site - Many of our former users are not aware that the Mite Site is back. The original mooneymite.com address was not available when the restoration project began. For this reason, we changed our web address to mooneymite.org. Subsequently, the .com address has been made available, but the site will remain at .org.

If you go to the old .com address, you will automatically be re-directed to the .org site. Please bookmark the .org address as the automatic re-direct is only temporary and will eventually go away.

2019-12-05

After a two-week surprise shutdown, Mooney has reopened its Kerrville, Texas, factory, but it’s not known if the entire workforce is back on the job or just production workers. It is rumored that they may never have actually closed.

Mooney is seeking additional financing and may be close or has already secured that to resume production work and additional operations. Kerrville’s Daily Times newspaper quoted company representative Devan Burns as saying negotiations are underway with an additional investor.

2019-12-04

We've just received an update from Boyd Maddox on his "Naked Mite" project.
The airplane has been completed and was moved to the Lone Star Flight Museum, Houston, TX. during March, 2019. Boyd sent five pictures of the Mite during assembly at the museum. These photos are located at the bottom of this page along with a number of progress pictures.

2019-11-27

Note from Dave Rutherford: I’m pleased that after more than a year of false starts the Mite Site is back on-line. I’d like to give much thanks to Keith Mackey for assuming the responsibility of being webmaster. Maintaining the Site has always been a lot of work, but during the transition I have become convinced that Keith is entirely capable of doing the job. I hope that the Mite Community will continue to show their appreciation and support for this important resource.

2019-11-17

NOTICE: The Mooney Mite Site is back on-line as of November 17, 2019
The web address has changed and the site is now at mooneymite.org After an absence of nearly 14 months, the site has been completely restored with all the former content now available. Dave Rutherford, the founder and webmaster of the site carefully archived all the content when he retired last year. The new webmaster is Keith Mackey who will try and keep the look and "feel" of the site as it always had been and add new news and content as information becomes available.

2019-11-17

On November 11, the Mooney factory in Kerrville, Texas shut down and released its entire staff as reported by the Kerrvile Daily Times. This is not the first time the company has been closed, so we are hopeful it will soon be revived perhaps by a new owner. This will have no effect on Mite owners as the factory has not had parts or support for the M-18 series in many decades.

2019-11-17

The link to the Western Association of Mooney Mites (WAMM) has been moved from the front page to this page

2019-11-17

With great sadness, we announce the passing on Sunday, August 26th gilof our good friend, Gil Gilbert of Kent, WA. Gil had been a WAMM member since its beginning in the late 70's, as well as a strong contributor to the Mite Site. Gil was grounded by pulmonary issues ten years ago, but kept up his interest in WAMM to the end. We will miss him.

There will be a memorial service for Gil at the Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent on Thursday, September 6th at 3PM, followed by a reception at the family home.

Note that N4121, Gil's pride and joy for 40 years, is still active in the capable hands of Jonathan Lee.

2018-08-30

NOTICE: The Mooney Mite Site will be shutting down (going off-line) on September 21, 2018.

Those of you who read this news page regularly will recall that last year Roger Hughes of Corpus Christi, TX had his Mite destroyed by Hurricane Harvey. Roger has informed us that hangars have been rebuilt and he is now looking for a replacement for N4051. For further details, see our Buy & Sell page under the heading Wanted Items.

2018-06-09

Oshkosh? Are any Mite owners planning to fly their Mites to attend the EAA Fly-In at Oshkosh, WI (July 23rd - July 29th)? If you are, or know of an owner who is, please get in touch with the Mite Site.

2018-06-08

To see some photos taken by Keith Mackey at last week's Sun 'n Fun Fly-In at Lakeland, Florida, [Click here]

2018-04-16

Following an invitation last January from Lance Phillips, marketing director at Mooney International, Keith Mackey, N4159, agreed to show his Mite in a special Mooney exhibit at this year's Sun 'n Fun Fly-In in Florida.

At the Fly-In, Mooney will be celebrating their 70th anniversary, marked from the delivery of the first Mooney Mite.

Keith's beautiful M-18C-55, which he restored to "show" condition in 2005, will be a very suitable representative of our favorite airplane.

We are looking forward to receiving more photos and comments from Keith after the event which starts on Monday and runs until April 15th.

2018-04-07

Karl Engelskirger of Valley City, Ohio has purchased N4138 S/N 305, as a Mite project from Paul Workman (Bedrock Aero) of Zanesville, OH. The Mite is now located at the Municipal Airport (3G3) in Wadsworth, OH, just west of Akron.

Karl will be also be taking possession of Paul's large stash Mite parts in May, and will provide us with an inventory list at first opportunity. This is good news for those people working on Mite projects.

As a matter of history, N4138 was registered as CF-IYQ and spent 1956-64 in Canada. After it returned to the USA, it became N6192C. It had been in storage, disassembled, for perhaps 40 years when Robert Farr of Saint Helen, MI purchased the plane. He changed the ident back to N4138 around 1998 when he learned it was available.

Incidentally, Karl managed to fit the wing inside a 26' Penske van for the move.

Welcome to the Mite Community, Karl!

2018-03-05

We have learned that N333M has been acquired from Joe Burnett by the Spirit of Flight Museum in Erie, Colorado.N333M

Gordon Page, president of the Museum, sent us some photos showing the present condition of the Mite. Whether it will be rebuilt is yet to be decided.

Years ago, while the Mite was undergoing a rebuild in Texas, it was badly damaged inside a hangar by a hurricane (sound familiar?). The remains were later bought by Dr. Ray Allen in Arizona, but the rebuild never got farther than what you can see in the photo.

2018-03-04

11NB

NC11NB, S/N 23 is now in South America. It was purchased from the estate of Weldon Sellers of Griffin, GA by William Starostik filho (Jr.) of Curitiba in the state of Paraná, Brazil. The transaction actually took place late last year and we have been waiting for photographs documenting the trip. However, they have been delayed, so we are publishing the information we have received so far.

The photo, taken on December 12, shows the Mite being put on a truck in the city of Piracicaba for the overnight journey to William’s hangar in Curitiba.

2018-02-23

Jeff Helmericks of Alaska sent us the following comment: N4178

"I attached a picture I took this fall when I was re-arranging the hanger with N4178 and one of its hanger mates [N312AS, a T-28B]. Two of my favorite airplanes to fly, the fact that they ended up being the same color was completely by accident. Only a slight difference in fuel burn!"

2018-02-13

Here at the Mite Site there are long stretches when nothing seems to be happening (take a look at the gaps between dates of the postings on this News Page). Then, suddenly, something comes out of the blue. No, not airplanes, but e-mails. N4178Lockaby-brown

We've just received a nice set of old photos of N4178, an M-18C-55 that has been in Alaska for the last number of years. They were sent to us by Susan Lockaby, daughter of J.D. Brown, who owned the Mite in the 1960's. They were taken at his hangar in Stuckey, South Carolina.

Subsequently, Jeff Helmericks, current owner of the Mite, was brought into the "conversation." As a result, we received from him a photo and some news about the current status of N4178 (See news item above).

2018-02-13

41214181

We are looking for information about these two Mites photographed at HIO, the Hillsboro, OR airport.

If anyone can pin down the date these were taken, or the names of the owners at that time, please let us know.

2018-01-11

The photo featured as the background on our Front Page was taken by Vic Syracuse from his Stearman about two miles south of Mallard's Landing in Locust Grove, GA. It was sent to us by Jim Frank of Atlanta in 2004, who at that time was the owner of N4189, a 1955 M-18C-55 which he had purchased from Fred Schmidt. The other aircraft, N70DV, a 1950 M-18C, was owned and flown by Gus Hertz, also of Atlanta. N4189 is currently owned by Mike Sarsfield of Atlanta, and N70DV belongs to John Casey of De Moines, IA. (2016-01-30)

"Flying the Mooney Mite is the closest experience to flying a Spitfire: it's a single seater, it has retractable gear, and it's very responsive to the controls." - Vera Dowling, one-time Mite owner and well known Alberta aviator who ferried over 260 Spitfires in Britain during World War II.

"The Mite indeed can be a great cross-country airplane." - Ben Favrholdt, N66MX

"A Mooney Mite is an airplane for flying ... [it's] not hard to fly. In fact, it's not only not hard to fly, it's downright easy to fly." - Dan Green

"I feel sorry for every pilot who flies his entire life without ever experiencing the thrill of a little airplane like the Mite ...." - Budd Davisson

"The Mite is one of the sweetest flying airplanes I have ever flown... and I have flown a rather large range of antique/classic/warbird aircraft. For me the Mite is the world's perfect second airplane." - John Davidson, N4096

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The Mooney Mite Site went online September 25, 1999.

Disclaimer: All material published on this Site, whether contributed by readers, reprinted from publications, or created by the webmaster, is unofficial and intended only for the enjoyment of Mooney Mite owners and enthusiasts.