Our engine, after a factory overhaul in June ûof 1996, flew 1650 hours before quitting.

The week before our Mooney performed its swamp buggy pupation, a reader or two asked us for more detail on our recent research revealing apparent high incidences of engine failures in all models of Mooneys.

We reported these findings in our ongoing series on aircraft safety records in the March and June 2002 issues of Aviation Consumer. Our research revealed that the apparent leading cause of accidents in Mooneys is engine failure.

Our research covered all models of Mooneys which, unfortunately, blurs the fact that various models have different powerplants. …