Draws From Tried-and-True Former Employees

Mooney Airplane Company has let us know about the good news: people are being promoted, and recalled, at Mooney's Kerrville  (TX) manufacturing facility.

Charles Somerville has been named manager for the Mooney service parts division and the service center. Formerly serving as finance manager, Somerville's new role will include the oversight of operations related to the service parts and service center. The service center provides factory-direct maintenance and repair services to Mooney-manufactured aircraft. The service parts division provides parts services directly to owners of Mooney aircraft and to factory-authorized service centers around the country and the world.

Rich Lueckenotte has been mamed controller for Mooney Airplane Company. As controller, Lueckenotte's role will be that of overseeing day-to-day financial operations of the company. Lueckenotte come to Mooney from an oil field services firm located in West Texas. Prior to that he served at Mooney Aircraft Corporaton as finance manager and controller. Mooney Aircraft Corporation previously operated the manufacturing facility in Kerrville until its bankruptcy in July 2001. Advanced Aerodynamics Structures, Incorporated purchased Mooney Aircraft's assets in bankruptcy in early 2002 and began operating the company as Mooney Airplane Company. During his tenure at Mooney Aircraft Corp., Lueckenotte was on the team responsible for implementing the company's manufacturing accounting and planning system, SAP.

Dan Apel has joined the Mooney Airplane Company family as an engineer. Prior to assuming his position at Mooney Airplane Company, Apel was employed as an engineer for its parent company Mooney Aerospace Group, at its Long Beach, California facility. Apel was reassigned to the Kerrville facility after Mooney Aerospace shut down the Long Beach facility and relocated operations to Kerrville.

Doug Crenwelge has been promoted to supervisor for the finishing division. Crenwelge previously served as the machine shop supervisor. A long-time Mooney employee, Crenwelge's new responsibilities include the supervision of those responsible for final steps of the manufacturing process. This includes the installation of avionics, engine setup, interior, production flight testing and final delivery to the sales department.

David Tatsch has been promoted to the position of machine shop supervisor. Another long-time Mooney employee, Tatsch formerly served as NC machinist and programmer. He will be responsible for supervising the machine shop employees and operations. The machine shop is responsible for manufacturing many of the precision components used to build the high-performance Mooney airplane.

Penny Mall has joined the Mooney staff as safety and environmental administrator. Mall is a former Mooney employee. She has over 13 years in the career field and has a degree in occupational safety from Texas State Technical College in Waco. Mall is responsible for establishing the Safety Committees and MERT (Medical Emergency Response Team) as well as various environmental projects.

"Mooney is well known for it's outstanding Safety record which will continue under Ms. Mall's leadership," said Human Resources Manager Hank Engel.

FMI: www.mooney.com