The Mooney Anomaly

From nose art in World War II to whimsical full-plane designs, aircraft painting has grown beyond military aircraft to commercial jets and private aircraft. Of the flying canvases today, the Mooney Anomaly stands out for its colorful abstract design.

The Mooney Anomaly (N3205F), a 1967 Mooney M20F, is a flying canvas of 45 colors from nose to tail. It’s also a testament to two people conquering their fears: Pilot and owner Liam Hawkins and his fear of flying and artist Matt Kress’s fear of failing at being a working artist.

The pair hope when people see the unique airplane it will inspire them to pursue their own dreams.

Fear of Flying

Liam grew up with a fear of flying. As a businessman, he forced himself to fly in an attempt to conquer that fear. He noted it took more than 1,000 flights on airliners to conquer that fear, noting that every bump and every noise helped drive that fear.

“But the only thing worse than how I felt in the plane was the idea of failing,” he said.

To further overcome his fear, he took flying lessons. Learning in a Cessna 172 introduced new experiences and fears, which took a few months to get used to.

CFI and Designated Pilot Examiner Pat Brown helped Liam overcome his fear through a few rules.

“Pat’s first rule was no stimulants before flights because they can increase anxiety,” Hawkins reported. “The second rule is that you are now a morning person. Flying in Florida is smoother and cooler in the mornings before the storms build. The third rule is I’m the customer and I set the parameters for the lesson.”

By setting the parameters, Liam said he reduced the number of fear-stimulating activities per lesson.

“Yes, it costs more to slow down the training to lower the task-saturating things, the steep turns, and such. But it worked for me,” he said.

Other things he does to increase his comfort in aviation are to give talks at EAA chapter meetings and display his aircraft at fly-ins and air shows. That’s what took him to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2024.

Of course, flying into Oshkosh is a stressful challenge for any pilot, so Liam set a personal minimum for the trip — he brought along an instrument-rated instructor and co-pilot.

“I needed an experienced spotter for the conga-line entry into Oshkosh,” he said.

Now, with 800 hours as PIC, he plans to get his instrument rating. He recently earned his seaplane rating at Jack Brown’s Seaplane base in Winter Haven, Florida.

Though he trained in a Cessna, he eventually bought a Mooney.

“I looked for something in the 135-185 knot range that burns 10-17 gallons an hour, with four seats, with readily available parts, and reasonable maintenance costs,” he said. “Then it came down to the performance of the Comanche versus the Mooney. After that, availability was the issue. It seems after 2020, there weren’t a lot of these planes for sale.”

When he bought the Mooney, it needed a new interior, a paint job, and new instruments on the panel.

George Mitri of Sky Comforts did the interior, while Bruce Jaeger of Jaeger Wisconsin Aviation did the wall panels and spatial panel, he reported.

From Ugly to One of a Kind

When it came time to tackle the paint job, he turned to a friend, Matt Kress, a professional artist who had conquered his own fear.

After graduating from art school, Matt worked for more than 15 years at a desk job, fearful he couldn’t make a living as an artist. When he moved to St. Petersburg, he began selling his art work at local shows. Then in 2018 he got his first contract for a mural from the professional football team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Since then he has painted more than 30 murals nationwide and sold more than 100 paintings. His influences come from Dali, Warhol, Klimt, and Mondrian, but his style is a unique blend of abstract, futurism, and pop art styles.

Liam recalls that when Matt saw the Mooney for the first time, he didn’t hesitate to call it “ugly.” He then offered to paint the plane.

He offered to do a mock-up of his paint scheme, but Liam said he didn’t want to see it until it was done. He trusted Matt to design and complete the artwork.

Liam searched for a paint shop, but many declined because they were worried about mixing paints. Then he found Ace Aircraft Refinishing in Bartow, Florida.

“They were thrilled to be part of the project,” Liam said. “There was a seven-month wait to get into the shop, so the guys there prepped an aileron and tested the paints to see how they’d hold up.”

“Liam called and asked for a traditional paint job — strip, prime, and paint it white,” recalled Luke Strawbridge, who owns Ace Aircraft Refinishing with Nathan Sligh.

“Then Matt painted for two or three weeks before we added a clear coat on top. It usually takes us six to eight weeks to paint an aircraft. This time it took 10.”

“We do our own designs,” he continued. “I can do fairly interesting designs, but I don’t think my brain could necessarily come up with something like Matt’s.”

Luke added the shop is keeping all the paint colors Matt used so they can do touch-ups as needed.

This was Matt’s first time painting an airplane, which involved “painting around curves and painting up,” according to Liam.

He added that he did not see the paint scheme until the job was completed.

“I was blown away by it,” he said.

He’s not the only one. The Mooney Anomaly attracts attention wherever it flies. Look for it at a fly-in or air show near you. Liam noted he plans to display the plane at the 2025 SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo.

For more information: Instagram.com/TheMooneyAnomaly