Depends on your maintenance strategy.

If you are the "factory service center, call me when done" guy, can be quite expensive.

If you find a good local shop where you can participate in the decisions, like using used parts, then it can be a lot cheaper.

So there is no simple answer to your question.


Understood. They are older and probably more variable in the maintenance cost.

Mike C.

512 lbs of cabin load isn't much for a family cruiser.


2% of $1.5M is $30K per year.

$1.5M tied up instead of invested is about $90K per year assuming a 6% return (SP500 average return is 10% over the last 50 years).

Don't dismiss the ongoing costs of high hull values.

Mike C.

I am approaching 2 years into my MU2 ownership.

Positives:
Very reliable.
Low yearly maintenance
Fast (290 cruise)
Never worry about payload, will fit 6 adults with bags and full fuel.
I flown 8 adults for 3 hours and everyone is comfortable.
(relative) low capital cost.
Economical on fuel.
Lots of storage for bags and gear.

Negatives:
High insurance cost (20K on 720k hull)
Air Cycle Machine does not work well on the ground.
Older airframe.
It’s an MU2, everyone will tell you that your aircraft is a death trap.

I looked at TBMs and Meridians. Very capable aircraft but too small. The cabin on the MU2 sold me. The club seats have so much leg room, even the tallest passengers are comfortable. I removed the partition behind the pilot seat and installed seat track extensions, I have more room than in any other aircraft I have flown.

I have a long body Marquise, it’s has the rear lavatory, what is a big deal for small children.

Either way, once you go turbine, it will not be long before you want a jet...
Good luck, these are good problems!

MU2 insurance is an issue, has been going up more than other types.

A few underwriters left the market so less competition.


There are ways to help it, like using higher RPM on the ground. But on a hot day, can be a bit of a sweat box until you takeoff, then the ACM works quite well (at least, mine did).

Use sunshields when parked outside, helps a lot.

There is no electric AC option on MU2. My Citation has that and it is helpful.


Yes, but very stout and high quality, so age is not too big of an issue.


It can be flown safely. It can be flown dangerously.

It can be as safe any turboprop. It will never be as safe as a jet.

I'll add some other MU2 issues:
Hard to find mentor/contract pilots.
Not many MU2 specific shops and can be far away from some parts of the country.
Only one sim provider, Simcom in Orlando, not full motion.
Special training rules, but really insurance was forcing type specific training anyway, so not a big thing in the end.


That's the MU2 limousine. I had the short body, the MU2 sports car.


It took me a long time to move up to a jet because the MU2 was so good at doing what it does economically.

Mike C.

IFR with about 500 hrs total time, 400+ have been complex. Not opposed to getting commercial if it helps.

I was talking with my wife about some of this feedback and it occurred to me, if we want a week at place A, we could book it on Airbnb a week longer then we really wanted, a few days early and a few days later to accommodate any wx issues. My wife and I are both type A and we like our schedules which was what made me want the dispatch reliability and mission completion of a turbine equipped plane. But since none of us have anywhere we *have* to be at any point in time, maybe this is the most simple way to approach this.

This is how we currently do it, more or less, with two boys quickly outgrowing the back seats. Another option is just to stay flexible, if the weather doesn't cooperate, fly somewhere towards your final destination that has good weather, book a hotel on short notice, make it an adventure. The only days you can't go anywhere are the days the weather is bad where your plane is parked, and usually that's only for the first or last half of the day.

The cost, and equally important, pilot training requirements to fly your own plane anywhere in any weather are hard to deal with.

That being said, I'm also eyeing Meridian or a 421 or... pretty soon it's a light jet, as this thread shows. Hard to justify without a real business use.

Likely a London Aviation Underwriters policy all day long - will be able to do the Meridian formal initial training 'in-airplane' with a host of training providers London approves. If you go Meridian join MMOPA - great organization and great resources for the owner/pilot. Good luck with the transition~ th

Went through this analysis with my plane partner a few years ago; we were both lower time piston pilots at the time. Opted for the M600 vs. the Meridian based on range considerations (cabins are identical; G3000 avionics are superb but avionics aren't a dictating factor typically).

Did a pretty detailed analysis of a legacy 850 vs. a used M600 and we figured that even paying more up front for the M600, we would have less cash out the door over 5 years (we are in year 4 now) with the M600.

Some of this also depends on whether you have business use or not. We use the plane solely for personal travel, so no big deductions up front and the MX is all after-tax ... that can turn the tide one way or the other also.

If a Meridian (or any PA46) is on your short list, it's worth joining MMOPA for the $275 for one year. It's not free like BT, but there is a TON of detailed information on the forum, nice people and very solid info. Drop in the bucket if you are serious about the airframe. Even if you decide to do something else, it's money well spent if that info points you in a different direction. YMMV but just a suggestion.

Also happy to chat offline if that would be helpful to anyone.

Cheers

That FBO is where I am. I noticed and appreciate that.

Are the phase inspection costs detailed anywhere? Not knowing about them has made me apprehensive to consider a 501 too seriously.

It sounds like the capital expenditures, maintenance, trip times, range, and operating expenses fits well in the Meridian’s sweet spot. An additional benefit, is the meridian was built to be a step up turbine for piston flyers. With the exception of maybe the SF50, it is the easiest and most forgiving turbine one can fly. There’s so much automation, and so many safety features. For instance, if you forget to turn on the bleed air, forget to turn on the environmental and pressurization system, and fail to heed the multiple CAS warnings, the plane will actually pressurize itself, and just shake its head at your stupidity. The Garmin equipped aircraft have very good integration into the air frame system so that it knows where your gear and flaps, pressurization and everything else is at all times and depending on the year gives you a lot of oversight. Kind of like that Flight Instructor sitting in the right seat. The PTa6 is very reliable, and if you’re flying your family across country day in and day out, that never waivering hum is comforting. If you’re flying the aircraft less than 200, 250 hours a year, will mainly be an annual to annual aircraft with very little between annual maintenance. Oh, there are the oil changes, which you have to do…..never. . There are a lot of nice family airplanes. But if you can afford it, there are very few that can be operated as cheaply, and as reliably as a meridian. Good luck, and also concur with signing up for MMOPA and checking out the wealth of knowledge there.

As nice and helpful this is (I am as well), it is actually one on my list of negatives of TBMOPA vs BT. Seems like there are a lot of questions answered with "call me at xxx.xxxx" rather than airing their knowledge and grievances for the record. BT is better in that way, I never considered a Piper so I am not a member there.

One thing I will always share with a Bonanza owner upgrading to a turbine - don't do the same math I did (175kts/310kts * hours flown last year = turbine hours planned). There is so much more comfort, capability, safety and opportunity that I am flying the TBM 50% more than I planned and loving every minute.

Also, it helps for turbine owners to be bad at math.

I think the term is mission creep. As the capability of a plane increases, missions you would be reluctant to do in a slower plane are now doable. And hours flown and miles flown will usually go up.

Just plan on the number of hours staying constant and your radius expanding

# of trips flown per year * 2-3 h * 2 is a better metric since most trips are around 2 hours, just going further with a faster plane.

Double edged sword.

For every automated system, there are all sorts of procedures for when they fail. They also can create automation complacency that makes living without them hard.

"Automated" and "simple" are actually opposites.

On my MU2 and Citation, almost everything is manual. I like that. It keeps the pilot in the loop and there are no procedures to learn or train for when the automation fails. Nor are there expensive and complex things to fix when something goes wrong.

Mike C.