Awesome Airplane

Fast
Good short field performance
Smooth Ride (high wing loading)
Economical (Garrett Engines)
Relatively Cheap to purchase
Supported by manufacturer (still)
Two body types (short and long)

At least two active BT'rs have and love their MU-2s.


Mike posted this advertisement:

http://www.controller.com/listingsdetai ... 375663.htm

Looks like a nice short body MU-2.

Here's another one:
http://www.controller.com/listingsdetai ... 394867.htm

Question:

Why are "M" model MU-2s "Highly sought after" or "highly desired"?

Take a look at this-

http://www.mu2b.com/files/154/File/MU2_ ... rmance.pdf

There's a bit of subjectivity here. We can compare the first one you listed to the Solitaire because it's been upgraded to -10 engines. The M model has pretty much the same body, pressure, etc...as the Solitaire, but keeps the three bladed props and carries about 40 gallons less fuel. The three bladed props are more desirable because they a) don't have the prop OH AD that the four bladed models have, and b) give you a few extra knots because they're more efficient. The Solitaire goes farther because of the extra fuel (I've heard it posited that the speed difference makes up for the fuel difference, but I don't buy that) and supposedly is quieter (sound the same to me, maybe just a higher pitch on the three bladed bird).

The -6 bird isn't even in the same ballpark. You don't want that. The -10 bird is comparable to the Solitaire.

Only model which has all of:

Short body (faster)
3 blade props (faster)
Higher gross weight, 10,470 lbs (carries more)
Higher ceiling, FL280 (goes farther, higher)
6 PSI cabin (more comfort)
Simpler systems (less cost)

The model prior, K model, is FL250 ceiling, 5 PSI cabin, 9,920 lbs MGTOW. It is the fastest MU2, when equipped with -10 engines, due to being a little lighter than an M and the fact top speed is reached under FL250.

The model after, P model, is 4 blade props (slower, heavier, more costly), and has things that cost more money to maintain (glass windshield, oil cooler boots, dual bus). The P model is somewhat quieter due to slower props.

An M model upgraded to -10 is as good as it gets, IMO.

My empty weight is 6,850 lbs, the P model runs about 7,100 lbs.

Mike C.

It is pretty close.

Solitaire carries 248 lbs more fuel, but it also weighs about ~250 pounds more than the M model, so for a large cabin load, the M model can carry more fuel, up to 250 lbs more, to stay under MGTOW, and thus go further under those conditions.

If you can carry all the extra fuel, the Solitaire is about 10 knots slower than a -10 M at the same weight, and about 4 knots slower for being 500 lbs heavier (250 lbs more empty weight, 250 lbs more fuel). Over a 4 hour flight, 14 knots is 56 nm extra to fly, about 100 lbs more fuel. The Solitaire can thus fly about 80 nm further, or about 1300 nm depending on what policy you have for your reserves.

Mike C.

The later model (roughly 1980 and beyond) Marquise and Solitaire have the SPZ-500 autopilot, which is the only one with Altitude Preselect.

Altitude Preselect is a huge thing to have when flying single pilot IFR in this type of airplane.

The bigger cabin an potty seat make the Marquise quite a "sleeper" of an airplane. I love it.

-Pascal

Mike, what you getting. Have you decided yet?

Actually, 1981 and later (at least for Solitaires). My 1980 model was the last year with the Bendix M4D. It flies nice, but I dread if/when it has problems with servos which are its weak point.

Also, IJSC has an STC (or perhaps just a rubber-stamp field approval?) that can put a wire between a G600 and the M4D which will essentially give you a poor man's "Altitude Preselect". It's not quite the real thing, but basically when you hit the altitude on the altitude bug it will electrically press the Alt Hold button for you. How far the autopilot overshoots depends on how well your autopilot is tuned and configured and how fast you are climbing when it happens. Apparently it is generally within 100 or 200 feet.

Rebuilt servos are available.

Mike C.

The fact that yall fly airplanes of this speed and capability without altitude preselect kinda amazes me. How would you fly a complicated RNAV arrival in actual while getting a reroute? Seems like it wouldnt be hard to add that function, and would change the way you fly the airplane.

It's no big deal. You don't need altitude preselect to fly IFR. If they give me a complex reroute when I've got my hands full the answer is "unable, give me a vector please until I get a moment to copy the clearance" or "give me the first three fixes so I can get them in the box please".

The G600 preselect works just as Jon said, but I hand fly to cruise altitude and on the descent anyhow, and in my opinion so should everyone else. The autopilot is great when you're overwhelmed and need an extra set of hands, but relying upon it is asking for trouble.

I know plenty of big spendy jet guys in Citation Xs and Globals who tell me I'm nuts for not turning the autopilot on when the wheels go up and shutting it off in the flare, but I don't have a brand new multi million dollar auto throttled system, I have a 40 year old M4D. It'll probably never fail me, but just in case, I think I'll stay capable of flying my own bird thanks.

O I am sure you are plenty capable, it was not my intent of pointing out that you werent. I just feel that flying like that is mostly done by smaller, less capable aircraft. If the autopilot fails in the jets that I fly, its not a problem at all. I can easily fly an arrival and ILS down to minimums single engine without a sweat. I guess I am just saying that I find it more enjoyable to fly the big planes on the autopilot up high, and didnt think that anything turbine wouldnt have an altitude preselect, as it is the number one button used in our planes.

Rebuilt servos are available.

MU2's are really nice airplanes. They have been on my shortlist for years. The freighters started buying them up around 2006 or 2007.

The second Mu2 listed on the original posting is "my" Mu2. The other partners have the Jet bug, despite all the mission parameters pointing to just keeping the Mu2 which is my choice by far.

We recently had all our servos and parts of the M4D gone through. It flies great.
I love that it has Yaw Trim and is approved to fly single engine coupled approaches.

Altitude Preselect is neat... But do you really just ignore what's happening in the climb because you have pre-select? The majority of the most glaring Altitude Busts I've been on a flight deck for were on airplanes with Preselect that somehow went wrong.

Love the Mu2 threads on BT!

All of the MU-2 models are good airplanes! Just find one that has been well maintained and fits your aquisition budget. You can run any of them at lower power settings to save fuel, or push the levers up for speed. The metrics of speed vs. fuel capacity vs. -6 vs. -10 are not huge. One a 500 nm trip, the end result will be pleasing however you choose to do it in whichever model you choose to do it in.