Press Release Source: Mooney Aerospace Group Ltd.
Mooney Airplane Company Partners with Spanish Manufacturer
Friday August 1, 10:48 am ET
OSHKOSH, Wisc.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 1, 2003--Mooney Aerospace Group Ltd. (OTCBB:MASG - News) announced today at the annual meeting of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) that its wholly owned subsidiary has entered into a strategic relationship with Construcciones Aeronauticas De Galicia, manufacturer of the Toxo light sport aircraft in Spain, to manufacture, design, assemble and market the two-seater plane. The aircraft will be renamed the Mooney Toxo, and Mooney will undertake all Toxo related activities from its plant in Kerrville, Texas.
J. Nelson Happy, president of Mooney, stated: "This is a major step for our company. No other traditional aircraft manufacturer has entered the light sport aircraft market before, but we believe that the time has come for us to do this. We have flown many of the light sport aircraft available today, and we chose the Toxo because we believe it best represents Mooney's philosophy of offering the highest-performing aircraft in its class. The Toxo is a miracle of engineering and design, and every pilot who has flown it has immediately fallen in love with it. The price of a fully equipped airplane will be substantially below $100,000, so a new high-performance airplane will be available to a much wider group of pilots."
Antonio Castelo Silveira, a principal of Construcciones Aeonauticas De Galicia, remarked: "We have been working on the Toxo airplane for 10 years, and over 20 aircraft are now flying in Europe. We are pleased to be associated with Mooney, who we believe best characterizes the traditional high-performance piston powered four place aircraft. Mooney's reputation for high performance and value is consistent with our corporate objectives, so the affiliation is natural. We plan to work closely with Mooney to adapt the Toxo to the North American market, and we think this is a breakthrough for us."
Happy stated that the Toxo is built with the latest technology in materials and aerospace technique. It is made of composite construction, and is an ideal plane for both business and holiday trips, with characteristics such as ease of maneuvering, long range, short-field capability, comfort, enhanced cockpit visibility and superior cockpit arch. It is available with engines from 80 to 180 HP. To ensure a safe and easy flight, the Toxo underwent an exhaustive program of static, dynamic, load, fatigue and flight tests.
The airplane, with a 120 HP engine, has a maximum speed of 230 mph, a cruise speed of 180 mph, a 10-hour range and a service ceiling of 14,000 feet.
More details about the Toxo are available at www.cag-sl.com, CAG's Web site.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Mr. Larry Hunter, Press relations Manager or Mr. Nicolas Chabbert, Executive Vice President, Mooney Airplane Company, 830-896-6000, or visit our Web site, www.mooney.com
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). In particular, when used in the preceding discussion, the words "plan," "confident that," "believe," "scheduled," "expect" or "intend to," and similar conditional expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act and are subject to the safe harbor created by the Act. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties and actual results could differ materially from those expressed in any of the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, market conditions, the availability of components and successful production of the Company's products, general acceptance of the Company's products and technologies, competitive factors, timing and other risks described in the Company's SEC reports and filings.
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Contact:
Mooney Airplane Company, Kerrville
Larry Hunter or Nicolas Chabbert, 830-896-6000
or
www.mooney.com |
