The Mooney M20 is a family of piston-powered

Reciprocating engine

A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common features of all types...

, propeller-driven general aviation

General aviation

General aviation is one of the two categories of civil aviation. It refers to all flights other than military and scheduled airline and regular cargo flights, both private and commercial. General aviation flights range from gliders and powered parachutes to large, non-scheduled cargo jet flights...

 aircraft

Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...

, all featuring a low-wing and tricycle gear

Tricycle gear

Tricycle gear describes an aircraft undercarriage, or landing gear, arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one wheel in the front, called the nose wheel, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity...

, manufactured by the Mooney Airplane Company

Mooney Airplane Company

The Mooney Aviation Company, Inc. is a U.S. manufacturer of single-engined general aviation aircraft. Mooney has been a leader in civil aviation even though the company has gone bankrupt and changed ownership several times...

.

The "M20" was the twentieth design from Al Mooney, and his most successful. The M20 series was produced in many variations over the last 50 years, from the wooden wing M20 and M20A models of the 1950s, to the M20TN Acclaim that debuted in the 21st century.

On 5 November 2008 the company announced that it was halting all production as a result of the late-2000s recession.