Originally Posted by packageflyer

I flew Jetstream 3100/3200 series for 14 years at a regional. 13000 hours with one precautionary shutdown. ( bad fuel controller)

Originally Posted by SonnyD

Whoa! Gee, guess your scan's pretty sharp! <bg>

MU-2 cabin noise -
With aftermarket soundproofing, how quiet is the cabin, especially toward the back? Better than a late model King Air, by chance? Assume 4-blade props and a good door seal.

For comparison, I have some time in the back of a Metro, which was awful, of course.

Originally Posted by Cheyenne Driver

What about the P180?

Originally Posted by Boris Badenov

I'm pretty sure Iowapilot and I work for the same company. We did the "recurrent" package at Simcom, rather than the "initial", since we did a fair bit of training in the airplane and got our 135 PIC signoff before going down there. It's a fine program, and Leif definitely knows his stuff, but the sims are non-motion and my recollection is that they don't "feel" much like the plane itself. I'm not sure I'd want to try flying it without some actual time in the plane. I've rarely heard anything bad about Howell and plenty good.

My impression of the plane overall is that it's a great performer, and perfectly safe, but as everyone says, it requires a bit more effort when something goes wrong than a KA or other similar aircraft. It's nothing a normally skilled pilot who is current and stays that way can't handle. It's also built like a brick outhouse. No idea where the reputation for being difficult in ice came from, as I've been in a fair amount of ice in it and never had any white-knuckle moments.

Operators that I'm aware of are: ACT, Air 1st, Bankair (I think they've parked at least some), Epps, and I think Royal still has some, although I don't know whether they're still flying. Those are of course all 135 cargo. Don't know how many corporate operators there are.

Originally Posted by Cheyenne Driver

Any MU2 pilots out there that would recommend initial training with Howell or SimCom ? Why?

Originally Posted by Loneeagleswa

SimCom ... Just completed MU2 training with SimCom at Orlando. Great facility for initial ground school. Sim was better than I expected. Flight training was excellent and Initial Check Ride was through enough to feel as comfortable as one could feel as a low time MU2 pilot flying single pilot. Follow up questions are answered within minutes of texting, usually with a phone call.