Dougdrvr

Metro.......an evil, bastard device, or, as Ernest Gann would say, a near successful attempt at creating the Infernal Machine. The IIs couldn't carry a full load and go anywhere. It was built like a tank, I'll give it that, but it was such misery for pax and crew alike. Most of my tainted experience with the ***** was with -3 engines and stories that would curl your hair. Especially out of high altitude airports.

A good friend lost a prop blade one night and twisted the whole engine into the fuselage where the two remaining blades slapped a basketball sized hole in the fuselage. The only empty seat in the airplane was next to the hole. One tube of the engine mount was all that was left holding the engine on and he couldn't keep the wings level below about 135 kts. Got her down on the long runway at MCI without so much as a scratch on his passengers. A remarkable display of airmanship!

own nav

The 1900s have more power, can carry more weight, but burn more fuel.

The Metro gets good gas mileage with it's direct drive engines, but they usually use a GPU to get started. There's a trade off between fuel saved and outstation GPU costs.

Pilots aren't the only one's who are more familiar with Beech products, experienced Metro mechanics are harder to find also.

Dougdrvr

I always suspected that the design of the 1900 was always intended to make up for the Metro's shortcomings.

Walkeraviator

I was just offered a job flying Metros. You guys arent instilling much confidence.

threeighteen

Key lime?

Walkeraviator

No... I opted not to work for Key Lime when they told me I would get my 10 hours rest at my outstation instead of at home...

Here is a question. On a plane like a Metro or 1900 that doesnt require two pilots, and you are not flying passengers, just boxes. Is there a way to log SIC time? They claim that their OPSPECS specifically state the requirement for two pilots... what say you?

1257

Take the Metro stories with a grain of salt, you can find the same individual oddities with Beeches.
It was 5000+ hours of some of the funnest flying I've done personally.
Generally the guys who liked the Metro were guys who liked fast bikes/cars and were into hand flying.
The guys that didn't like it, in general, were the ones who wanted to relax/be quiet and read or not fly.
The 3/4 were much better powered/developed than the 2 was and most of the 2's are retired.

If the ops specs say two pilots are required, you can log SIC.
This is the way it worked at Skywest. In fact, Skywest's ops spec
changed from single pilot (ferry flights) to always dual pilot due to an "exuberant" guy....
He was SP ferrying a Metro and decided to do some aerobatics.
Fell out of roll and overstressed it on the pullout.
It was caught after the first flight of the day, yeah with pax, and ferried to PSP.
The Swearingen engineers came out from San Antonio and measured the deflection and estimated 6g.
They pulled the skin and the spar returned to the normal displacement and they simply re-skinned the wings and put it back out.
I flew that plane many times afterward and it was fine. They are tough and just require a some skill and attention/maint. to fly well.

The stories could go on and on for pages, good times.
It's a fast, no BS, pilot's airplane. 248 (kts) to the gate was the saying for the outer marker.
If you take it seriously and respect it, it's a kick in the pants.
Oh yeah, keep your finger ready on the nose wheel steering button......heh

threeighteen

If you don't mind sharing, who's offering the Metro Position? The only other operator I know of (ameriflight) starts new guys off in Pistons or Be99s.

FAA usually says no from what I hear.

Dougdrvr

I've rolled a few airplanes but I'd never have the guts to roll the Metro. The ailerons could be disconnected for a week before anyone found out.

I've often thought of finding an old air frame in the dump somewhere, dragging it to Oshkosh and charging guys $5 a swing with a sledge hammer.

Be careful with the cross flow switch, it's between two identical fuel shutoff switches. The cockpit was designed long before the phrase "user friendly" was invented. It will help if you are 5'4" like Ed was. 1257 is right, it'll make a man of ya, along with some hearing loss. I just hated to see the paying passengers in such misery.

Dougdrvr

I doubt if there's a functional autopilot.