Key West Arrival in an MU-2 Marquise 

Premier 1 Driver Always something to enjoy...

+Geoffrey Gallaway Way to flat though! ;-)

+59arnemann Interesting you say that. While it was a VFR arrival, I flew the GPS LPV glideslope down. I think the video may look like a flat approach due to the "fisheye" lens on the GoPro. I agree that the Keys are a beautiful place to fly around....just not at low altitude in a turboprop where you are sucking down fuel at low alt!

Tony Fletcher Thanks. Getting better at the camera rig!

+Andy B_1972 Thank you. It really is an incredible plane and a joy to fly!

+drklain Sadly, I'm only an enthusiast and a PC pilot, so I can only dream... Thanks for these superb videos though and for the wonderful, real-world insight into flying the MU-2. Wishing you many more happy hours of flying!

+Andy B_1972 Nothing wrong with that. I probably have 3-4000 hours behind my PC flying Microsoft Flight Simulator myself. If you like the MU-2, there is a payware model out there I assisted with development on. I'm told it is one of the top turboprop flight sim models out there (I have no financial interest in the software, just provided technical info as they developed it). Best of luck to you in your virtual flying!

+drklain I think I know the payware MU-2 model you mean - the Flysimware one. I bought it just before Christmas and it has eclipsed all the other aircraft I had for my sim. You can tell it was a real labour of love by the developer and he's always updating and improving it. All the more rewarding to learn a real-world MU-2 pilot helped with the tech. I'm from Edinburgh, UK and I suspect my virtual MU-2 is the only one that regularly flies in and out of EGPH ☺ My landings still need a lot of work though... It's a good job the gear is strong!

+Andy B_1972 That's the software. I believe if you look at it, there are models for both Greg Mink's Marquise (N321GM) and mine (N130MS). Greg Mink also has a ton of videos on RU-vid of both his MU-2 and his new plane - a Beech Premier. As far as the tech, the kudos go to the software developers. I spent time taking pictures (to help with the virtual cockpit), making recordings (every switch sound, gyros, engine start, etc.) and explaining how things worked -- in particular the power and condition levers for the TPE-331-10 engines since there are quite different than the P&W turboprop controls and MSFS really doesn't have a good turboprop engine model. I honestly think landing in a flight simulator (particularly a PC-based one) is harder than the real thing! You don't have the peripheral vision and other, tactile clues to help you determine distance above the runway and feel for your descent rate. I think your best approach is to get a good stabilize approach at about 500 fpm descent rate. Not sure about the software model but in the real world, on final with flaps 20 you'll be at about 20% torque on the engines, gear down to get that rate. As you cross over the threshold, pull power back to about 15% torque...don't go any lower or the flat pitch and loss of thrust will take away your elevator effectiveness and you'll just dump onto the ground. Rather slowly ease power back slightly and pull the nose up to a slight nose high attitude (2-3 degrees) and let the plane decelerate and settle down to the runway with power on. Once you touch down, ease the power back to flight idle as you pull back on the elevator to hold the nose gear off the runway and keep slowing down. Eventually, you hit full back on the yoke and the nose gear touches down. At that point you can come over the flight idle gates to ground idle and slow down. I only used reverse pitch on shorter runways as it is wear and tear on the prop blades. The key to a good landing in all cases is a nice stabilized approach at about 500 fpm which makes it easy to ease off to a slower descent rate as you touch down. Best of luck!

eminye1 It's on the list to do....just need the time! Much more fun to fly the plane than just film it sitting in the hangar!

Well they certainly are loud to people outside the plane, especially when on the ground. The general theory is that the exhaust noise is amplified by some sort of resonance between the ground and the underside of the wing. Alas, not anywhere near the most powerful turboprop engines. There are some massive ones used on other aircraft that put the 765shp of the TPE-331-10 engines on the MU-2 Marquise to shame...but I certainly loved the amount of power in the Marquise!

That’s correct. The MU-2 only has spoilers for roll control. It is a wonderful system.

It really is cool. Check out the arrival to Dulles for Be A Pilot Day video....we actually use it to back into our parking spot!