It is a five-seat pressurized single-engined aircraft with a wider and longer fuselage than the M20E Super 21 and a taller fin and leading edge fillet.

[1] It is a low-winged monoplane with a retractable nosewheel undercarriage, with a similar wing to that used on Mooney's earlier M20 Ranger.

[4] The "Mark 22" name had previously been applied to a 1957 Mooney M20 experimental aircraft built with twin engines, a nose cone, and an enlarged tail surface.

[5] The Model 22, although produced in fairly small numbers, has been operated by private and commercial owners in several countries including the United States and Australia.

[6] As a demonstration of its high performance, the second production aircraft was flown non-stop from New York to the Paris Air Show in June 1967, the flight taking 13 hours 10 minutes.