Some mighty fine downhill skiing in Phoenix or Alabama. :-)

Mike C.

Nah....just no reason to take them out. Kinda like the kegerator in the aft baggage....

:D

My 4 year old daughter loves cheese pizza with pepperoni. My 6 year old son loves supreme. Last night we made one of each and they went on and on about how theirs was better.

I had 2 pieces of both....they were both right.

Is it bad to be low in a turboprop or is it simply the fact that they burn a lot of fuel down low?

Both

Does it do damage to the engines to be low for extended periods of time?

Just fuel. There is no harm to the plane, in fact, the engines run cooler (more excess air through them).

For comparison for my plane, best RANGE is (ISA, 9,000 lbs mid cruise weight):

5000 MSL: 50% power 220 KTAS, 0.42 nm/lb of fuel.

FL280: 50% power, 260 KTAS, 0.68 nm/lb of fuel.

So you can see quite a drop in fuel efficiency, I lost about a 3rd flying at 5000 MSL.

The other factor is top speed. I have Vmo of 250 KIAS, so at 5000 MSL my top speed is 268 KTAS. At FL280, I run out of power before I run out of Vmo.

Note that I don't operate at best range speeds typically. There isn't much penalty to going faster, which is different than piston airplanes. At 5000 MSL, I'd operate right at the max of 268 KTAS, about 90% power (100% would put me over Vmo), 0.4 nm/lb, so only a 5% drop in range for a 22% increase in speed. At FL280, 290 KTAS, 0.67 nm/lb, so only a 1.5% drop in range for a 12% increase in speed.

Mike C.

No.

Mike C.

Congrats on the MU2! I think you will not regret the move. I am loving mine so far. I am based at Smyrna. Mine is going in for some avionics upgrades in a couple of weeks at Carpenter Avionics so may see you out there at Reece's .

Meanwhile I'm on a Baron veggie diet. Healthy, filling, and using minimum OIL.

Mmmmmm.....that pizza looks very tempting!

:D

Does it do damage to the engines to be low for extended periods of time?

Good one! These guys must have 9 lives.....

I flew in the MU2 today. It was my first ride in one and it didn't dissapoint. I met the seller at KEFD and we spent an hour or so going over the plane and him telling me about everything in the cockpit. I was very impressed with his knowledge and willingness to explain everything. The plane was very clean and well represented. It's easy to understand why everyone says how well built theses things are. They make the well made Baron seem like a tin can. Everything on the plane is overengineered. Start up was very cool for a piston guy and a little intimidating. Temps seemed good although one engine started hotter than the other. (One has 2600 hours versus 4500 hours). Having a working knowledge of what my engines, props and other controls are doing is something I have taken for granted until now and I can see how not having that understanding can be a real safety concern. I didn't like not knowing what was happening and why. I will have to learn a lot more and there is a lot more to learn. Taxi was easy and controlling speed with the power levers in the beta range along with braking is a breeze. We took off flaps 20 and climbed out at 2000 fpm until 2500ft. We took an eastern heading out toward the coast and flew under the class B then went to 4500ft. I did 2 360 steep turns and the sped up to about 245kts TAS. We pulled it back and flew at 150kts TAS and tried out the M4C AP. Altitude hold and heading bug worked fine. The AC worked well on the ground even though it was only in the 70's and in the air it was ice cold. The plane was very quiet and very smooth. The kids (2 his, 1 mine) were in the back without headsets yucking it up. We turned back toward KEFD and requested the ILS for 22. I hand flew it with no issue even though the co pilot attitude indicator is lazy. Getting used the power settings without the audible cues associated with the pistons power changes will take some getting used to. With the exception of some slight last second input from the seller at touchdown the landing was ok. The nose gear goes down fast because the the CG is behind the mains and there's not enough elevator to keep it up like on the Baron. With some practice I can see it being easy to land. The MU2 didn't dissapoint. Overall my impression is that it's a very serious airplane that requires and demands respect. It will do exactly what it's supposed to do provided it's pilot does what's he's supposed to do. I can't wait to fly it again. The seller and I agrreed on terms and as long as the plane checks out at inspection, it's a deal that can happen. Hopefully we can get the inspection done this week and then I really need to get my Baron sold. The seller may actually want it so we will see. More to come....

Now cool!
Thank you for the report.
What an airplane!

James
It's a very nice looking plane. Good luck.