UAL T38 Phlyer

The MU-2 has no ailerons; only spoilers. If you start flirting with a stall, spoilers provide little or no roll control.

trafly

Mitsubishi wanted a fast, efficient airplane that could use short, rough runways. Thin, highly loaded wing to make it fast. Full span flaps to get good runway performance from that thin wing. Big squishy landing gear for rough runways. Turned out to be a great airplane, but one that demands a disciplined pilot who knows exactly what's going on with the airplane.

An engine failure at/after V1 is different than any other light twin/turboprop. Rudder for yaw, but don't roll into the good engine, because those spoilers will only kill lift and create drag. Don't retract the gear, because there are two gear doors that open forward, presenting several square feet of drag to the wind. Retraction takes about 18 to 20 seconds and reduces rate of climb by about 500 fpm. So, you verifying feathering of the dead engine and just keep the nose straight. Once you've got some altitude you can accelerate and start cleaning up. Flown properly, it does just fine.

Lots of MU-2s ended up in the hands of individuals and (freight) companies that tried to operate them on the cheap and/or with poorly trained and inexperienced pilots. Those are the airplane that you read about and that produced the bad reputation.

TiredSoul

About 6-8 years ago an MU-2 went for about $250,000 while a Cirrus 22 went for $400k+ and a Baron G1000 was a cool $Mil.
So you're talking turboprop performance for less then SE piston prices.
This attracted a certain type of private owners that were heading for a smoking hole in the ground.
I've never flown an MU2 but I've been told the airplane was intended for career pilots and not Private pilots, same as the Piper AeroStar.

dustrpilot

It has ailerons, but they are called trim ailerons. They're located on the trailing edge of the flaps, they're very effective, and are operated by rotating a knob left or right.
If you experience an engine failure I think the drill is pitch to 10 degrees, hold the roll trim in the desired direction for a 3 count and roll the rudder trim 5 times. It's the only plane I've ever flown that I needed to reduce power on a single engine go around to get it under control. If I recall, about 80% trq, get it trimmed and then get more trq if needed.
I'm not a high time Mits pilot, but I can see that if it's flown like a King Air, in the right configuration, you'd probably have a topic in your honor right here on APC.


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HB Pilot

There seems to be a reluctance to identify the second pilot by both the company involved and the NTSB. Ten days after the crash, his/her name still hasn't been released. More than a couple media sites are questioning why.

2StgTurbine

They were able to ID the FO because of fingerprints. Unfortunately, there was not enough evidence to ID the PIC. While they may know who was supposed to fly the aircraft, I think they are waiting for physical proof of the pilot before they release it to the media.

Std Deviation

You assumed I agreed with the entire post I quoted. I referenced low speed characteristics and spoiler based performance issues. I should have been more specific. I have 1100 hours in it, by myself at night.Frankly, I loved the plane. Flew it four nights a week. But it does have some especially unforgiving characteristics. And I land full flaps in it. A big no-no according to FlightSafety. But that's how I was trained (By Reese Howell). I had one engine shutdown and two times gear failed to extend. Other than that I've had no major issues. I lost a colleague to a stall/spin in it at BWI in 2004. Professional pilot with 6800 hours TT.

Just for the record, if you're fully fueled and immediately return because of smoke, you're landing tips full. As you know, that's on the main tank and you're not transferring then. Say, in downtown Detroit, at 3am, in January, with 1200 pounds of Federal Reserve checks. Or something similar. That's not doing it wrong. Blanket statements may not apply. Your mileage may vary.

727C47

I always liked the Mitzi never had a chance to fly one, I've done that circle at TEB a bunch on windy days, lots of turbulence, God rest those Lear pilots, a very sad situation.

TiredSoul

Reports out, not looking good

https://dms.ntsb.gov/public/60000-60499/60373/611460.pdf

ScoobyDooo

Just read through this, so this is just the NTSB putting all the facts down as it pertained to flight etc?

I didnt see a cause?