Holy smokes Mike. Yeah, I think that'll be enough...

Thanks for the great write-up.

The aft (unpressurized) baggage compartment is the place large objects go. For example, folding bikes, a few sets of golf clubs. Got to watch W&B. Most MU2s are a bit nose heavy, so that works. Mine is a bit tail heavy (no battery in the nose), so I have to be careful.

I have placed items in the nose before, but that's "unofficial", and most MU2s (but not mine) have avionics up there. Helps a lot with W&B.


I have a hard time imagining any Seneca load the MU2 cannot take.


Remove? Not too bad, maybe 2-3 minutes. Put back in? It is a bit fiddly and needs a certain technique to get all four mount points in the rails. So the first time you do it, maybe 30 minutes and a few choice cuss words. Now I can do it in 4-5 minutes and G rated language. The seat belts go with the seats, so it makes for a clean space when the seat is out.

Here's a small desk I moved once:

You can see the floor and sidewall mounted seat rails in the photo.

Mike C.

I'm not sure the airliners are built this well.

The plane is stout. Imagine taking an airplane the size of a 421 and then adding an extra 2000 lbs of aluminum to it. That's how stout the MU2 is, a whole ton more structure lathered all over it.

Mike C.

I've seen most MU2 short bodies with club seating, but a few with airline style (all forward) seating. Are the seating configs interchangeable in the field? IOW, can I take seat 3 and seat 4 and switch them to accomplish the airline <-> club config change like you can in club seating A36s?

See diagram for some potential configs. Side facing couch is hard to find.

Jim,

The seats are interchangeable but like the Barons/ Bo's most prefer the club seating. As Mike stated it takes about 30-45 mins the first time you swap them, gets a lot easier after that. The sidewall uses a 3 pronged rail / latch that sometimes is a pain especially when the Mapco cases are installed.

Regards,
Nigel

I see no reason this shouldn't work. Never tried it in my plane, though.

It should be noted there is plenty of room in the club config. Knees don't knock. So if you are looking to avoid that problem by choosing the all forward setup, it doesn't happen in the MU2.

You can just barely see the left knee of the photographer and how much room there is to the rear facing seats.

Mike C.

No, I'm looking to avoid the travesty of all-forward seating.

Just wanted to know how early in the discussions I needed to rule out airplanes with an airline-style seating config.

Thanks for the info!

I have never seen a short body MU2 in that config.

If you run across one with pictures, post a link, I'm curious what it looks like.

Mike C.

Those seats have the high backs suitable for rear facing seats, so I'd be shocked if they can't be turned around to club seating.

Where did the left middle seat arm rest go? It shows up in some photos and not others.

This is Africano's F model. He put a lot of money into the panel. Probably the most tricked out F model there is.

The rear bench facility is not common.

Mike C.

I know.

I've spent a disturbing amount of time trying to make that airplane make sense for me...

I know.

I've spent a disturbing amount of time trying to make that airplane make sense for me...

With the right fuel/hangar assumptions and assuming a fixed mission in nm/year ... it's not hard.

Is there any plausible scenario where an MU-2 is less safe than a 58P (or C340/C414/C421) for an owner-flown, ~20K nm/yr use case?

(I'm less interested in whether 20K nm/year is enough to be safe in a 58P or MU2 in an absolute sense, but rather in a relative sense.)