Mentor Pilot.

Tulsa is baffling. only explanation that makes sense is that he flipped the fuel cut off instead of the tip tanks switch. But how did he flip just one? or did he flip them both and manage to restart one of the engines? why did he say control problem instead of engine problem? so much of that scenario leaves me scratching my head.

Regarding the accident; it will never be determined why that engine failed or was shutdown. The stars were aligned in a bad way. Would having an instructor or mentor pilot on board have prevented the accident? Most likely. The gear needed to be raised.

I would recommend 25-50 hours with a mentor pilot. You don't have to do that and many of us didn't, but it would be very beneficial.

After your initial in the airplane training, go the extra mile and spend some time in the sim creating some muscle memory!

I am not sure that training can fix what happened there, flying with a mentor likely would have saved the day until there was suffieicent familiarity with the aircraft.

Of note is the fact that loads of C421 time did the accident pilot zero good when things went sideways in the new to him MU2.

I have forgotten many of the details but I thought the problems started when he was high on approach.

First of all, I may have been a different type of MU2 student. I did not feel comfortable after the minimum required time, so I asked Reece and Jerry to extend my training. Frankly, it took me 20 hour before I felt like I was ready to leave the nest. And that worked out great, because on my first solo flight I had an emergency that I was able to safely handle, which says a lot about the quality of my initial training I then planned on spending the next 20 hours in VFR or very easy IFR only. I'm at 60 hours now and I'm finally starting to get comfortable in the plane.

First of all, I may have been a different type of MU2 student. I did not feel comfortable after the minimum required time, so I asked Reece and Jerry to extend my training. Frankly, it took me 20 hour before I felt like I was ready to leave the nest. And that worked out great, because on my first solo flight I had an emergency that I was able to safely handle, which says a lot about the quality of my initial training I then planned on spending the next 20 hours in VFR or very easy IFR only. I'm at 60 hours now and I'm finally starting to get comfortable in the plane.

One of the things that I don't see taught well is how to approach the first 50-100 hours in a new make. How to gradually add challenges, and how to know when day vfr solo proficiency flying is OK and when you're ready for night IFR business flight with multiple pax.

Sandy,
Would you mind sharing the specifics of your emergency?

I've felt as well it takes about 50hrs to feel comfortable, and about 100hrs to really know it on most of the complex planes I've owned.

I didn't have 3 green on the gear. I was being vectored to final, broke off from final and troubleshot the problem. Even though I had just finished my training, under the stress of the situation I had forgotten that on the MU if you have any green they are all down and locked. Having forgotten that tidbit, I was glad that it was day VFR and I just flew the plane and gave myself the time to think about how to handle the problem. I did a fly-by the tower, was told that they all appeared down and I went in for the landing prepared for the worse.

The bottom line to this thread is that I am very glad it was VFR. There had been a couple of days were I could have left Reece's training and have had to fly home IFR and instead waited for VFR weather. I had 1600 hours in 414/421s before the MU2 and the MU2 is so different a flying machine that I believe a very conservative approach to flying after the initial training is the prudent way to go. One last comment, learning to fly an MU2 in a sim is like playing a video game, it may teach procedures but it won't teach you squat about flying the plane.

That's interesting. Makes me wonder, what's the point in having 3 lights if this is how they function

Triple redundancy.

The "just flying around" part is highly valuable. It teaches you muscle memory for things like trimming and maneuvering that you need to have downloaded before you start getting into more intense parts of the program.

Trimming is probably the hardest part for the new MU2 pilot. If you don't trim well, you end up fighting the airplane a lot. The MU2 is trim intensive, all three axis.

Mike C.

Not true.

Each gear has its own indication.

There are failures that will cause 0, 1, or 2 gear to be down and the rest up. For example, a break in the mechanical system after left gear and prior to manual lever results in both mains down and nose up, but the pilot can crank down the nose with the lever.

Suggest reviewing the gear system again.

Mike C.

Not true.

Each gear has its own indication.

There are failures that will cause 0, 1, or 2 gear to be down and the rest up. For example, a break in the mechanical system after left gear and prior to manual lever results in both mains down and nose up, but the pilot can crank down the nose with the lever.

Suggest reviewing the gear system again.

Mike C.