Aircraft model
MOONEY AIRCRAFT CORP. M20
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The original Mooney M20 of 1955: the wooden-wing, wooden-tail four-seat retractable that started the line, with a 150 hp Lycoming O-320 and the forward-swept vertical fin that every Mooney has carried since. It cruises at about 143 knots on 150 horsepower, which in 1955 was extraordinary and is still respectable.
The wood is the whole of the buying decision. The M20 and M20A have wooden wing spars and a wooden tail, and there is a well-known airworthiness history around moisture in the structure; an aircraft with good hangar history and clean inspections is worth a great deal more than one without, and there is no middle ground. From the M20B onward the structure is metal. Everything else is Mooney ownership: a tight cabin, a superb glide, manual gear on the early aircraft that owners either love or replace, and a type community that knows the aeroplanes intimately.
Compare with…
Put MOONEY AIRCRAFT CORP. M20 side by side with up to two other models.
- MOONEY AIRCRAFT CORP. M20
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming O-320-A2B |
| Horsepower | 150 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1955 |
| Production end | 1958 |
| Endorsements required | complex |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 143 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 655 nm |
| Service ceiling | 17,200 ft |
| Climb rate | 900 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 50 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,150 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,100 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,035 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 825 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,450 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,415 lb |
| Usable fuel | 35 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 8.4 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $25,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $60,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 2,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $28,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $40,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 206 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 23 |
| Median year built | 1957.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 0 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 0 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 1 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 4.35 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 23 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 23 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 23 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | —3 |
| Support | 1.4 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 0 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 28.36 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 11.65.
- Access: class median 767.75.
- Support: class median 141.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.57.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.