Congratulations. I just finished my ground school at Reece's. As soon as my plane gets out of the avionics shop I'll do my flight training. Hopefully in 2 weeks. Which 3 models are you looking at?

Sandy,

All F models. A K would be nice but haven't found one that fits the bill. Congrats on yours. Hope to be there with you inside of a month.

Congrats!

Congrats and great choice!

Here's a pic taken today at FL270 when flying from Chicago (actually Gary, IN (GYY)) to Washington, DC (actually Manassas, VA (HEF)) to remind you why you will be happy with your Mits......and here's a pic taken during the descent (probably around FL240 or so)Note these are the fastest groundspeeds I've ever had in my plane but they sure brought a smile to my face...and at 510 pph (about 75gph)! TAS was actually right around 270 kts. They don't match the incredible speeds Craig H had a few weeks ago, but his plane is 10-15 kts faster than mine anyway. Of course mine has seating for 9 in comfort plus a flushing potty which makes SWMBO a very happy lady...

Oh dear Jesus, why did I look at those pictures.....

James,

First, I LOVE that you announced prior to actually obtaining said a/c. That takes some huevos.

Second, I'm green with envy. Although the MU2 is probably the most obnoxious sounding a/c I've ever heard on the ramp, the performance #'s are as enticing as they get. I'll be living vicariously through you as well.

LOTS of pics and LOTS of details are hereby required...

Congrats.

You buy a fast airplane not for the tailwinds days, but for the headwind days.

A really bad day for me is 200 knot GS. A really, really bad day.

I think this is the worst ground speed I had all last year, ~220 knots or so:

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N305 ... /KCLE/KEVV

Mike C.

You buy a fast airplane not for the tailwinds days, but for the headwind days.

A really bad day for me is 200 knot GS. A really, really bad day.

I think this is the worst ground speed I had all last year, ~220 knots or so:

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N305 ... /KCLE/KEVV

Mike C.

A 160 knot Cessna 210. The MU2 was my first twin.


On rare occasions, this is a problem.

I did a lot of analysis, and for my plane, my range is longest up high until the headwinds hit 100 knots on the nose. When they get that bad, then descend until they reach that level. That may not be a perfect formula, but it works pretty well.

Now that being said, the additional cost for flying low becomes less and less as the winds pick up. So around 50-70 knots, I start to fly lower to cut down on the time. You may notice in the FA track that I started at FL200 (getting about 200 knots GS, 100 knots on the nose) and then dropped to FL180 (220 knots GS, about 80 knots on the nose).


Say the winds at FL220 are howling at 150 knots, then the ride down low is usually bumpy, so I don't know that anyone is having a good day.

Sometimes a change of just a few 1000 ft up or down makes a big difference. Picking up 20 knots by dropping 2000 ft is definitely worth it and a bit unusual.

The headwinds problems are mostly balanced by those days you can see 400 knots GS. Highest I've seen is 444 knots in level flight, about 150 knot tailwind. I was going faster than the jets going the other way.

Mike C.

Don,

It is a trade-off, but that's really one of the sweet spots of the MU-2. With a cruise speed in the high 200's, even a 50 headwind has you doing around 250 kts (same can be said for the KA200). The KA90's with a 250 kt cruise speed are the ones that take the beating because then they are down to piston speeds when the headwinds kick in.

If the headwinds are bad, I'll plan on around FL200-210 where the fuel burn isn't too bad but the headwinds aren't as bad as they are in the high 20's. With my faster TAS, I'm still going faster than a piston who's flying in the teens and I'm above a lot of the bumps and other weax issues.

As in most things in life, it's a trade-off. No question that my fuel burn is higher than a piston, but I've got a far more capable airplane that can handle most of the weather and the higher speeds generally make fuel costs close to a wash (not quite, but close).

Mike's last plane was a T210.

Can't speak to Mike's experience with the winds. But I have found, at least with the Malibu/421 that it's really rare to have a day where the winds make much of a difference. Sure there is some ... but usually the difference between 6000 and 18000 is perhaps 5% of flight time. The wind gradient usually matches the TAS gradient pretty well. High teens/ low FL isn't ideal for a TP, but it's manageable.

My most memorable flight in the 421...eastbound at 270 over weather nonstop from PHX to Alabama with a 90kt tailwind. I landed with enough fuel to hit the atlantic coast with reserve. Two days later came home at 1,500 AGL with a 5-10KT tailwind the whole way weetbound. Awesome trip and highlighted the 421 capability. Winds up high were still 100kts...

The MU2 fighting a 100 knot headwind is faster than a 421 at 1500 AGL with a 10 knot tailwind.

The place the 421 might win is if you can make the westbound trip non stop. I can't buck a 100 knot headwind for 1200 nm (PHX to TCL say), nor will my range improve if a I fly low, so I would have to stop westbound.

My 421 POH seems to say you can't really do that either. At 3000 ft altitude, the range profile at 65% power is 1100 nm assuming you have TWO nacelle tanks (262 usable). Now maybe LOP gets you there, but it is a squeaker.

Mike C.

The MU2 fighting a 100 knot headwind is faster than a 421 at 1500 AGL with a 10 knot tailwind.

The place the 421 might win is if you can make the westbound trip non stop. I can't buck a 100 knot headwind for 1200 nm (PHX to TCL say), nor will my range improve if a I fly low, so I would have to stop westbound.

My 421 POH seems to say you can't really do that either. At 3000 ft altitude, the range profile at 65% power is 1100 nm assuming you have TWO nacelle tanks (262 usable). Now maybe LOP gets you there, but it is a squeaker.

Mike C.