wrote in message
oups.com...
For the same money, you could buy a Mitsubishi Solitaire and go faster
with
a larger cabin and (probably) more reliable systems

How much faster are we talking here? Never flown in an MU-2, but I've
heard they can be a handful and there are plenty of NTSB reports on
Mitsu accidents. I read recently about the FAA looking into the recent
accidents with these planes. May very well be related to training
issues but the plane seems to have a rep, kinda like the Aerostar did
years back IIRC. I think I'd feel more comfortable with a conventional
aileron/flap than the spoiler. As far as systems reliability, not sure
why you think there'd be an appreciable difference(?)

Wooly


The Solitair will go 315kts and has a Vmo of 250KTIAS. What is the
accident record on turbine Baron's and Dukes? They are going to have the
same problems as other high-performance-owner-flown aircraft. The problem
is pilots that fly ~100hrs/yr when fatigued and in bad weather and often
don't get enough training. I think the TBM 700 actually has the worst
accident record of any turboprop. How many pilots who just paid over $2
million for their TBM get failed in initial training (zero). They get
signed off and then go crash. If the same pilots could try flying Learjets
single pilot, they would crash even more. Give them F104s and they would
all be dead. I suspect that when the big training centers lose a few more
lawsuits this may change (hopefully).

There is no difference in handling between ailerons and spoilers except that
spoilers are more effective at low speeds. Two pilot crews of Beachjets
aren't crashing or complaining about the spoilers on their airplanes. The
MU-2 does have a bad rep even though its accident record is middle of the
turboprop pack.. The current investigation is political (the FAA
acknowledges this) and includes several CFIT, gear up landings and even a
crash into a ground vehicle on the runway. The whole notion that an 18
month spike in accidents with no common cause could be attributed to the
design of an airplane that has been flying over 35yrs is crazy since the
design of the airplane didn't change! The conclusion will be (again) that
the pilots who do not undergo frequent recurent simulator training have
accident rates 10x the pilots who do. I wish that my government wouldn't
waste my money tilting at windmills. Almost all the accidents whether
Skyhawk, MU-2, Super Cub or anything else are pilot error. The more capable
airplanes get flown into more weather over longer distances and are often
flown for business where there is pressure to get there and back on time.
The high-performance-owner-flown aircraft gets all these increased risks but
no two-pilot professional crew. The lower performance aircraft don't get
flown halfway across the country in large thunderstorm complexes by tired
business people at the end of a long day. My own situation is that every
flight in the MU-2 is over mountains, at night in the PNW where the weather
is often bad. In contrast, I have never flown the Helio at night and only
once in IMC because there are no Helio flight where I *have* to get there.

Generally, you will find that aircraft originally designed for turbines will
have better *everything* from structure to avionics to systems like heated
glass windshields (instead of narrow "hot plates), full dual-bus systems,
remote electric gyros, bearings instead of bushings ect.. It isn't just the
engine that make a TBM cost more than a Malibu, it is a whole host of
improvements.. They can incorporated these things because the airplane has
so much more power that some weight can be traded for better, higher
reliability, systems. When you do a conversion you get a piston airplane
with turbine engines. I am certainly not against conversions, I am
contemplating a turbine in my Helio but the reason I am thinking about it is
that there is no aircraft with comparable performance. If there where, I
would prefer to buy the proven, tested, solution.

BTW The most effective turbine conversions tend to be radial engined
airplanes like Otters, Beavers, the various Grumman flying boats and DC3s.
The greatly improved aerodynamics from getting rid of the draggy radial
overcome the thirsty turbine engines. Of course they don't sound as
good....


Mike
MU-2