Porsche powered Mooney

They made a Mooney and Cessna.

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Then there was the Jaguar version of the Bonanza, but it wasn't powered by a Jaguar engine!
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The car engine the plane engine was based on, the 3.2 liter flat 6 was arguably the most bulletproof aircooled Porsche engine. Unfortunately the engine was not good at loping along at 2,500 rpm, so they added a gearbox. I had a 911 with the 3.0 liter engine, fun car and I would have loved to stuff that engine in an airplane.
 
The project wasn't well thought of inside of the company. It was someones pet-project and ate a lot of resources that could have been put to better use.
 
I'm not too familiar with it, but it gets criticized on mooneyspace for its limited useful load.
 
That, and it isn't the easiest airplane to support. Lots of Mooneys out there.
 
Wow, this is taking me back. I think I recall seeing something in the old Private Pilot magazine about the Porsche Mooney in the 90s.
 
A friend had an Austrian motorglider powered by a bored-out Porsche 914 engine. It ran 2.7 liters through a reduction drive to a four-blade pusher prop. His was Experimental, there was another nearby that was Certified. Very few in the USA.

Neat plane. I rode in it a few times but didn't get to fly it much.

I can't recall (or pronounce or spell) the name, and don't have a picture handy. Perhaps Pilawt or someone will be along shortly to provide photos, facts, and generally better/more accurate info!
 
Wasn’t the 914 engine the same one in the vw bug? :p

seriously though, it was technically a vw engine
 
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86Aviator said:
Wow, this is taking me back. I think I recall seeing something in the old Private Pilot magazine about the Porsche Mooney in the 90s.
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Saw the same thing in AOPA and Flying. One lever power control and that kinda thing. It died a quick death in the marketplace.
 
Salty said:
Wasn’t the 914 engine the same one in the vw bug? :p

seriously though, it was technically a vw engine
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The type 4 engine was never in a bug.

The type 4 engines used in the type 2 VWs were similar but not the same as the type 4 used in the 914.
 
asicer said:
Mooney got a long-body fuselage out of the deal, though.
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I was talking about the Porsche company.



....which paid Mooney for the development of that fuselage.
 
Salty said:
Wasn’t the 914 engine the same one in the vw bug? :p

seriously though, it was technically a vw engine
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The 914/6 had a 2.0l flat six that was a down-rated version of the 911 powerplant. I am not familiar with that being used in any airframe.

The various commercially sold motorglider engines available in europe are based off VW industrial engines, not so much the type 4.
 
mondtster said:
The type 4 engine was never in a bug.

The type 4 engines used in the type 2 VWs were similar but not the same as the type 4 used in the 914.
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The 914 cylinder heads were somewhat different, with less restrictive ports and bigger valves. Type 4 cases are aluminum (not magnesium) and far stronger and heavier than other air-cooled VW cases.
 
As a kid, I remember an article in Flying (or maybe Car and Driver) where they 'raced' a Porsche 911 and a Porsche-powered Mooney. Anybody else remember that?
 
The 912 had a four banger, but not VW related.
 
My first ever GA ride was in a Porsche Mooney out of the lakefront airport in New Orleans. I worked for a guy that had one in the 90’s - got me hooked and I’ve never regretted it...
 
I have about 50 hours in them because I was ferrying planes for Mooney at the time and also did some instructing for two different buyers. They only built 41 of them and Porsche stopped supporting them and was even paying for them to be converted. I’m wonder how many of them still have the Porsche engine.
 
G-Man said:
A friend had an Austrian motorglider powered by a bored-out Porsche 914 engine. It ran 2.7 liters through a reduction drive to a four-blade pusher prop. His was Experimental, there was another nearby that was Certified. Very few in the USA. [...]
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Was it this one?
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Interestingly, I just learned from Wikipedia that a variant of it was also the first fully electric aircraft: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brditschka_HB-3
 
G-Man said:
As a kid, I remember an article in Flying (or maybe Car and Driver) where they 'raced' a Porsche 911 and a Porsche-powered Mooney. Anybody else remember that?
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Yes, but it was a 201 vs Ferrari....they handicap the Mooney by having the race start from their house, so pilot had to drive to airport and preflight....despite the Ferrari ignoring the speed limit, the 175mph Mooney easily won.

I thought the Scirocco had a Porsche engine, at least that’s what the owner would say?
 
kyleb said:
Nope. It had a slightly higher horsepower version of the standard water cooled VW inline 4.
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And in 87 updated to the 16V motor - I had one as an Ensign-mobile - fun little car that defined front wheel drive torque steer. :eek: - Did some autocrossing in it too.
 
G-Man said:
A friend had an Austrian motorglider powered by a bored-out Porsche 914 engine. It ran 2.7 liters through a reduction drive to a four-blade pusher prop. His was Experimental, there was another nearby that was Certified. Very few in the USA.

Neat plane. I rode in it a few times but didn't get to fly it much.

I can't recall (or pronounce or spell) the name, and don't have a picture handy. Perhaps Pilawt or someone will be along shortly to provide photos, facts, and generally better/more accurate info!
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2.7 liters? The 914/6 started out at 2.0! Assuming it was a six; I don't think you can make the 4s that big. Maybe more likely to be a 911 engine. 914/6 is a fairly rare beast.
 
kyleb said:
Nope. It had a slightly higher horsepower version of the standard water cooled VW inline 4.
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The Scirocco was a Golf in a designer suit. A coupe instead of a hatchback 2-door. Similar in concept to the Karman Ghia a generation earlier.
 
Kenny Phillips said:
2.7 liters? The 914/6 started out at 2.0! Assuming it was a six; I don't think you can make the 4s that big. Maybe more likely to be a 911 engine. 914/6 is a fairly rare beast.
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The largest VW based H4 I am familiar with is a 2.4l version Grob installed in the 109B. I believe Limbach offers one as well.
 
Dave Theisen said:
I have about 50 hours in them because I was ferrying planes for Mooney at the time and also did some instructing for two different buyers. They only built 41 of them and Porsche stopped supporting them and was even paying for them to be converted. I’m wonder how many of them still have the Porsche engine.
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Last I heard, four.
 
weilke said:
The Scirocco was a Golf in a designer suit. A coupe instead of a hatchback 2-door. Similar in concept to the Karman Ghia a generation earlier.
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I had a Scirocco, it was the absolute best car I have ever driven on ice, hard packed snow & other lo-friction surfaces. Everyone else was tip-toeing along, on the highway in terrible Canajan storms and this car could blow past everyone, tracking straight & under control.
No Porsche engine though.
 
weilke said:
The Scirocco was a Golf in a designer suit. A coupe instead of a hatchback 2-door. Similar in concept to the Karman Ghia a generation earlier.
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Yep. My college girlfriend had one. It drove well but had a badly adjusted shift linkage and was very hard to get in certain gears. At some point, it was stolen from campus and stripped. The cops found the remains in a bad neighborhood in another area of Atlanta a few days later. Not much was left.
 
weilke said:
The largest VW based H4 I am familiar with is a 2.4l version Grob installed in the 109B. I believe Limbach offers one as well.
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I stand corrected - thanks. Yes, it was definitely a four-cylinder so near-certainly a 2.4 liter.

(I had a 1977 Scirocco and 1981 Scirocco S. The latter was heavily modified motor and suspension - and quite impressive to young me and my friends. Lots of autocross and some Time Trials - ran at Lime Rock in the snow! Used to high-center on speed bumps.)
 
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Porsche Aircraft engine at museum in Stuttgart
 
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