Mooney M20J PFM was a Porsche for the Skies
The ups and downs of Porsche’s Eighties aircraft engine division helped lead the way to perfecting its automobiles.
More than just a sports car company, Porsche has applied their design expertise and engineering know-how to everything from tractors to tennis shoes.
More than once, they’ve taken to the air. While you might be aware of the myriad uses for the 356’s air-cooled four cylinder, including aircraft engines, you might be surprised to learn that Porsche entered the aircraft market a second time in the late 1980s with the PFM 3200.
There’s not a whole lot of info out there on these engines, or the aircraft they called home. Their history is fascinating and worth sharing.
Based on the 3.2 liter air-cooled flat six found in the 1984 to 1989 911 Carrera, the PFM 3200 was adapted for light general aviation applications. With tens of millions of dollars spent on development, just eighty or so engines were produced. Roughly half of them made their way into a variant of the Mooney M20, called, appropriately, the Mooney M20L PFM.
With most light aircraft engines being horizontally-opposed air-cooled designs, it seems only natural that Porsche would adapt the 911 Carrera’s engine for aviation use, and the Mooney M20 was an ideal candidate.
Like Porsches, Mooneys are known for punching above their weight. Thanks in no small part to a mastery of aerodynamics, the M20 is capable of cruising at speeds usually reserved for small twin-engine planes while sipping fuel. The similarities don’t end there. Some say Mooneys can exhibit unusual handling characteristics in the air, but a die-hard group of fans agree that they’re not nearly as scary as everyone says they are once you learn to fly them properly. Sound familiar?
Just 40 Mooney M20J PFMs were built in 1988, with one more produced in 1989. It wasn’t long after that Porsche ended the program, citing a downturn in general aviation (as well as sports car sales) that began with the 1987 stock market crash.
In 2007, Porsche surrendered their FAA type certificate, asserting that they would no longer support the engines with parts and service. While there are a handful of Porsche PFM-powered aircraft still flying, the numbers are dwindling every year as FAA-approved parts become scarce. Many Mooney M20Js have been converted to use more traditional Continental or Lycoming power. As of this writing, the only one we could locate was offered for sale as a salvage aircraft for parts only.
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