Who knew that Porsche made plane engines?

[Cloudsurfer]

The Porsche Mooney was a DISMAL failure, for a variety of reasons. Nevermind the fact that it wasn't commercially viable, the fact that Porsche couldn't possibly imagine that a bunch of Americans knew a thing about building an air cooled engine, they insisted on putting a cooling fan on the thing, pushing air BACK to FRONT. This single design element's immense cooling drag cost the aircraft at least 10 knots in cruise.

Sadly, the powerplant (along with its reduction gearbox) was heavier than the "stone age" engines it was intended to replace. They even fitted a composite prop to offset some of the weight.

The list goes on....

Everyone involved in General Aviation wishes that someone would develop a commercially viable modern engine, but at this point, it's going to be a JET-A burning diesel, not anything that burns gasoline if and when it happens.

[Topless]

I remember those Porsche powered Mooneys. My dad was pretty involved in performance aviation at the time and was pissed when the early reviews of the plane came out. He mumbled something to the effect of: "Those Porsche guys should have spent more time with people who understand aircraft design!"

I have always liked Mooney and thought it was the Porsche of general aviation. Too bad the motor didn't work out.