When I bought the mu2, I knew one of my main flights, which is 1300nm, would work east bound most of the time but I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to do the leg west bound non stop.

Yesterday, thanks to crazy jet stream winds, I was able to do it. Very fun flight with lots of weather and constant fuel calculating. I landed right at dusk with 1.1 hours of fuel remaining.

I tried a bunch of fuel flow settings, there is about a 8% difference between long range fuel burn in my plane and go fast mode. I ran somewhere in the middle for most of the flight, burning about 420lbs/hr and truing out around 290kts. It got colder as the flight went on which hurt my efficiency.

I had a fuel stop planned but when I realized I could make it home I changed the destination and kept rolling.

I used groundspeed to judge when I hit the big turn in jet stream wind. It worked perfectly and I kept my headwinds neutral to light despite 100 knot winds. Crossing all sorts of weather and while every other plane complained about the ride, mine was fine at fl280 outside of some light bumps crossing some jet stream boundaries.

I continue to be impressed by the mu2. There are not many turboprops that will do 1350nm into the wind in 5 hours flat. Had I wanted to go PC12 speeds, I could have stretched it a little further too.

In this case, by not stopping I avoided a fuel stop in weather and a night landing.

Even if the plane could go further non stop I think I would stop. I was ready to stretch after 5 hours. I can’t believe I used to do 8.5 flights in the Malibu. My tolerance for sitting decreases every year.

The XM wind forecast was dead nuts accurate the entire way. Such a great tool on days like this. I hope someday the gtn will use this data to predict your flight time a la foreflight.

Interesting day to fly yesterday Anthony. It looked like you did great! I flew from KPWA KAOO KHFD yesterday through the same system. It was obvious that the jets were struggling with the ride, but like you we found it relatively benign at 27-29k. As it turned out we could have made it non stop but I needed to use the facilities... Going back tonight will take a bit longer.

Nice Tony. I had crossed it the previous evening and knew what to expect. Found a few spots of light ice but otherwise not bad up high.

I crossed it on Sunday coming back to Jacksonville from Ada in my little ol F33A @ 17k, a measly 78kt crosswind according to the Aspen, light turbulence.

Nice Anthony! I had a similar flight (actually two) yesterday evening. Departed KBED at about 5:30pm (EDT) last night, ultimate destination KSQL. Flight planned two stops, but realized I could keep going a ways and tried it. Made it across in one stop (KGRI). However, there was a time after the stop across Nebraska and Colorado where my GPS was reporting crosswind out of the north at 147 kts. Even as a mostly crosswind, my groundspeed took about a 75-80 kt hit. But a little lower was a little better, and it improved the further I went west.

I too am periodically pleasantly surprised at the capability of the MU2.

-Jon C.

Wow. We were in the air at about the same time John. That was a long day for you. Were you pulled back or in go fast mode?

Yes, it was a bit of a long day. I tend not to pull back much. I find it doesn't make that big a difference. I typically run at about 97-98% RPM and close to max EGT, usually minus 5-10 deg for a small cushion.

I'm impressed you got 5 hours of endurance. I get more like 4.5, though admittedly this time that included a couple hours at FL240 instead of 280 which makes a minor difference.

Quick off the ground, direct climb to 280 and I ran 96% rpm at 420lbs/hr is the only way I can get 5 hours out of it. I typically run it as you described, or even higher RPM. Yesterday was also just me and literally no baggage so my climb was quick and I had good true airspeed right away even with the power back.

At one point I went back to 160 ias which is supposedly the true max Long range cruise setting. That required 360 lbs/hr total but it just felt way too slow.