The San Antonio yard dart, was the nickname I heard for the Metroliner.

Alan Bradley

I re-read my post, you're right it isn't FedEx its UPS (who knows where I got that).

The designer of those aircraft, Ed Swearingen, put out a lot of interesting products. I had a friend who owned and flew a Merlin for years; he had a great operating experience with it. I had the Merlin bug a while back. Had two under contract---one failed the pre-buy, and the owner wouldn't make good, and the other owner backed out when his replacement aircraft fell through. I'm damn glad now I didn't buy one of those. But they are sexy--300 ktas, 2600 nm range, leather couches, bar, potty. I forget which model of the Merlin III I flew last, but it flew like a truck. The pull required to rotate it at take-off would build your lat muscles. Thank you Mother Beech for the vastly better feel built into your products.

My flight instructor used to fly them for a regional airliner in the Middle East (Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania). Many short hops. He had a few stories about it. The controllers would occasionally try to vector him to give bizjets a clear shot. He would reply "there's no way I can slow down enough for a Citation to get ahead of me!" Very high approach speeds due to the small wing (hence good in turbulence) and very hard to land softly. Definitely a speed merchant, though, and he was glad someone else was buying the fuel.

I just talked to my buddy, his initial impressions that seem to line up with what everyone is already saying:

Low flap and gear speeds make you plan approaches MUCH further out. This differs from most turboprop SOP's and makes you fly it more like an airliner.

HEAVY nose. He said the closest piston twin to the Metroliner as far as flight control feel is a "Senapig".

They extended the wing about 3' on each side for higher weights. Unfortunately they didn't extend the ailerons. Result is poor handling.

Consistent soft landings are not possible, just put it on the ground.

Weird early fuel control systems that automatically bypass some fuel if the temperatures get to high. This can happen on climb out and you suddenly feel the aircraft lose power and sink (takes getting used to and an extra pair of under ware the first time).

Positives:

Some of the aircraft in their fleet have more than 35K hours, so they must be durable.

Cheap

Alex--if you don't mind me asking, how much turbine time does your buddy have, and how long til he hops to the left seat? Judging by someone else's comments about the noise, the Metro must have Garretts. The Merlins did that I flew. They are loud on the ground, but do have some advantages over P&W's. The Merlins could sucker you in--sleek, roomy, great performance, and much cheaper than comparable King Airs. The last one I flew had an interior that would've looked good in a model shoot. But then there's everything else, not the least of which was the flying qualities. Be it plane, boat or car, I ain't sitting in the back and letting someone else pilot me. But you'd have to do just that and let someone else suffer through flying that truck IF you got past everything else with the Merlin. Your bud's skill level is bound to expand with the Metro.

Alex--if you don't mind me asking, how much turbine time does your buddy have, and how long til he hops to the left seat? Judging by someone else's comments about the noise, the Metro must have Garretts. The Merlins did that I flew. They are loud on the ground, but do have some advantages over P&W's. The Merlins could sucker you in--sleek, roomy, great performance, and much cheaper than comparable King Airs. The last one I flew had an interior that would've looked good in a model shoot. But then there's everything else, not the least of which was the flying qualities. Be it plane, boat or car, I ain't sitting in the back and letting someone else pilot me. But you'd have to do just that and let someone else suffer through flying that truck IF you got past everything else with the Merlin. Your bud's skill level is bound to expand with the Metro.

I got typed in Metro III in 1989. Flew it 1700+ hrs. My type requires a second in command because no autopilots were installed. I flew for Waterski out of St. Louis.

I'm typed in ATR42 and 72's and B737 also. The Metro type was by far the hardest to earn. This airplane requires physical strength during engine-out and IIRC, when a generator fails, no automatic switching of busses occurs. Also, all flight instruments are a mix-match of AC or DC powered.

On the plus side, you can fly 250kts to the marker, slide down the glide slope completely unstabilized and land normally. It handles ice nicely. We flew near lots of convective activity and am convinced humanity will break before the airframe will.

Those were the old days. The SA-227 was fun to fly, but I have no desire to fly that stuff anymore. It is for younger folks.

No manual pitch trim wheel. If the pitch servo goes out, you have your knee on the yoke to pitch forward.

Nose heavy, when flying empty, we use to carry (2) 7 gallon gas cans and fill them with water and place them aft of the cargo door.

SAS (stall avoidance system) clutch. Forget if it is airspeed or AOA that sets it off. Drives the yoke forward when activated.

AWI - Alcohol Water Injection. Injects water into the hot section for lower ITT when more power is needed. The alcohol is just to keep the water from freezing.

The term of endearment here was "San Antonio Sewer Pipe"

Only a hand full of hours in a SA-227 but it steers just like a 727. The company I use to work for years ago had about a dozen of them. Flew them single pilot, with no autopilots (cargo). After 3,000 hours of that in the Midwest, those pilots were "good to go".

Mark

Great info. Thanks again.

Excuse the re-dredging just curious how your mate went?

Its a subject close to my heart in recent times been flying the Sa227 M23/B200 for the same company in a FIFO mining operation for 2 years in the Aus Desert on the same route having a pretty good comparison between the 2.

The 23 is a beautiful aeroplane for what it is, great machine, fast and fuel economical and carries twice the load comfortably over the b200 (-41/42s flew both). However its a pig of an aeroplane that 6ft extension with no aileron in 45deg Celsius made for interesting times with wet/cawi take-offs everyday. the Aircycle machine is a joke in the hot weather. and in icing at all max all up weight the aircraft was really limited to fl170 running 640egt (10 below max cont). having no bleed air/cabin circulation during take-off in hot and high temperatures wasn't comfortable

But you do develop a fair love and respect for the aircraft. I love them and they're a sexy machine, the deathpencil will always be held in high regard for me. 246kts (not sure where you boys got 248) to 10nm, sync off speeds high, flight idle & just enough power to cancel the gear horn, flap 1/4 @ 215, 1/2 @ 180, gear down 175kts happy days!

Alex,
What else would you like to know about them? I have been flying/checking in them for Martinaire for the past year while furloughed, and then a few years about ten years ago when the operation was Superior Aviation. FWIW, two of theirs have 24k hours, and two have around 32k hours....

Typically, the pilots that really learned how to fly the Metroliner liked them, the ones that fly the same hour, thousands of times hate them...

Jason

Lee-

I haven't had a chance to ask the latest, so I'll have to report once I speak to him.

Jason-

If you're flying for Martinaire you may know the guy I'm talking about Darrell Antoniel. He just moved up to MI to fly the Metroliner. I started the thread awhile back just to get some information for him since they aren't that common.

Thanks again-

Alex

Yep, I know him. I did all of his IOE as a FO, and in a couple weeks as a Captain.

Jason

I have 3 years and about 2500 hrs PIC flying for a regional in the Northeast in the 90's.

Texas Tampon and lawn dart are two other nicknames.

The good:

Faster than a 1900 (sorry Beech fans)

Has really good range due to lower fuel burn than the 1900 and a large fuel capacity.

Excellent "trainer" for moving up to jets.

Stable instrument platform. Remember, we didn't have autopilots. Heavy in roll, it's somewhere between a DC-8 with the hydraulics on and a DC-8 in manual reversion.

Depending on the max takoff weight, you could at least carry 19 people and 31 bags and still carry gas to get to your destination (1+30 to 2 hrs) and still have gas to get to an alternate without a sweat. Try that in a 1900. If your plane had 16k max TO or 16.5 (Metro 23), you had even more to play with.

Our planes had freon a/c and a ground heating system that could be powered from a GPU. Everybody loved that except for the unlucky guy sitting in the middle seat, last row. The aft a/c outlet was either at head height or a bit above.

The airframe is stout.

The bad:

The TPE 331 wasn't as robust as the PT-6 in the 1900. The engine wasn't flat rated, so making sure it met torque specs on the takeoff roll was a must.

The systems were a kind of patch work quilt. They worked, but it was different. Water injection anyone? Worked great, but hoaky

The NWS system caused a few to get an upclose and personal look with the runway edge lights. Again, trained properly, not an issue.

While it's a TP and can slow down, get down, it doesn't hold a candle to the 1900 in this regard. A bit a descent planning was required.

Starting a TPE 331 is an interesting experience. While some TP never get even close to redline during start, the TPE 331 flaunts it with everyone. It's marginal at best using the ships battery alone. Hit the parrallel/ series button threw the passengers into the dark at night. They loved that. Plan on using a GPU and nobody will get hurt.

The doors with the "click clacks" was a PITA. I don't know how many times the rampers couldn't close the cargo door after we boarded paxs. All it took was for someone (usually me) to push up on the bottom of the fuse near the door. It didn't take alot, but it still took a push.

The plane is very loud inside and out. I thought it was very loud, but after flying it a year or two, it didn't bother me any more

Hope this helps.