Cloud Nine's New Plane

Not sure about everyone else but the video says "video unavailable" for me
 
The real question is... Can you upgrade to engines to make it faster? :D
 
I want to see some panel pics!
 
asicer said:
So if you land gear up, the props and engines are still reusable?
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I wasn't planning on trying, but yes, they should be. :)

NoHeat said:
39’ wingspan for an MU-2? So a twin turbine that fits in a standard 40’ hangar?
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Correct! It fits in my hangar quite nicely.

My hangar has a 44' door. So technically, a Cheyenne I/II could fit as well, although just barely. The MU-2 fits pretty comfortably. The critical dimension is the aft of the tip tanks to the nose. Interestingly, that's the same critical dimension that exists on the 414. It's almost the exact same footprint as the 414, but because of the high wing design the surfaces are in different locations.

Note that a long body MU-2 would not fit in the hangar.

Matthew K said:
Ok I missed something because I had no idea you were even putting the 414 up :eek:......Congrats on the upgrade, I like it! :cool:
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Check the "For Sale" section. :)

Mtns2Skies said:
The real question is... Can you upgrade to engines to make it faster? :D
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Yes! I could upgrade the engines to -10s. But I'm not going to. That's a lot of money. Just doing the hot section on this engine will be good enough.

With -10s and 5-bladed props, this would be a 300+ KT plane. 270 ain't too shabby though.

kayoh190 said:
I want to see some panel pics!
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Additional pics will be forthcoming. The panel is nothing to write home about, but it's a lot nicer than what the 414 has.

Now to sell the 414 and try to fund this hot section...
 
Skyrys62 said:
Hereby deemed...

The Ted Sled?
Shaggin Wagon?
(Bohn) Hammer Haus?
Puppy Palace?
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Twin kerosene burners. :eek: :cool:

Let's call it the Bow WOW! :p

Congrats to Cloud Nine!

But you be careful with that baby Ted. I was always impressed with the performance specs of the MU-2, but as you said they have a well deserved reputation for not being forgiving to those who are inattentive or sloppy. You've come a looooong way from the Aztec. :D
 
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Zeldman said:
Me too. I just thought it was because I still use Windows 95...
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mscard88 said:
Yeah me too, the video that is, not Windows 95, geez Zeldman lol. Probably better off.
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Whew! And here I thought I was the only one...
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So now we're at the point of a fancy twin turbine, what's the rough $ donated per dog relocated running at..?
 
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Congrats Ted. I do hope you subscribe to lots of recurrent training. Those things have killed a lot of good pilots, I'd rather you weren't one of them.

One thing I like about POA is I can't recall seeing anyone from the board in the NTSB reports.
 
mscard88 said:
Trash 80! :rockon:
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I wrote my first commercial software on a Trash 80 model 1. We had a full house system. Dual floppies, expansion interface, 64KB of RAM and the Percom disk doubler. I wrote an accounting system and an electrical estimating system on TRS-80. I also wrote an energy calculation program that generated reports for heat pump sales people to use.

John
 
Katamarino said:
So now we're at the point of a fancy twin turbine, what's the rough $ donated per dog relocated running at..?
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The 414 actually cost less per dog than the 310 because the capacity was so much greater. The MU-2 has slightly less capacity than the 414, but it's more "right sized". The 310 was too small, the 414 was generally too big. MU-2's cabin should be "just right." As to costs, we'll see. Everyone I've talked to who's gone to an MU-2 from a 414/421 has said their costs have gone down between Jet-A prices and the less MX. I'm skeptical about that, but the terms on this plane were too good to pass up the opportunity.

We're a dynamic organization and if the cost/benefit doesn't work we'll change course. But the MU-2s have one of the best maintenance programs in terms of keeping costs down, and the things really are reliable with amazing factory support. At least, that's what everyone tells me. We'll see if my experiences match that or not.

To answer your question, with the 414 we were at around $200/dog typically on a trip from Houston to CA or the northeast, assuming an average load of 40. We'll see how it works with this.

steingar said:
Congrats Ted. I do hope you subscribe to lots of recurrent training. Those things have killed a lot of good pilots, I'd rather you weren't one of them.

One thing I like about POA is I can't recall seeing anyone from the board in the NTSB reports.
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The SFAR training mandates that everyone gets what is essentially a type rating for the aircraft. In some ways, it's more restrictive than a standard type rating. I'm looking forward to that level of rigor that's required for training. No doubt, the MU-2s have their characteristics that make them different from the rest of the fleet. Flap use is the big one. In some conditions there's nearly a 40 kt difference in stall speed between full flaps and no flaps. The bottom of the green arc is 101 KIAS. It's a fast plane that likes speed, and the way pilots are used to manipulating the flaps will not work in this plane. The full length fowler flaps plus spoilers change things up there.

I think we once did a poll and nobody on PoA reported having died in an NTSB report.

In all seriousness, it was determined that people who are members of type clubs have a lower incidence of crashing than people who are not. While PoA doesn't count as a type club, I think it has some of the same effect of keeping your head in the game and generally asking good safety questions.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
sew.....what's a hot section inspection cost....$40-60 K? o_O
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An AD was just issued on the TPE-331s (yay...) which is driving that up. A lot of the shops that do the HSIs are Honeywell service centers and will only handle the AD by replacing the affected part ($20k) which is driving up the costs of an HSI. The AD doesn't technically require replacement of the part, just inspection, and prohibits weld repairs if the part has cracks found in it. So, you can argue the merits of that both ways. One of the shops I talked to understood this and their prices (as you'd expect) were lower. Seeing a $100k hot section is not impossible, either. A lot of it depends on what exactly is found when they get inside it.

Another option is trying to find a used engine to put on. I got one quote on a used engine that is very attractive price wise, BUT it's an engine with high TTSN (10k) so not sure if I want to go that route. Thinking probably not.
 
Is there a specific location for the training Ted, or is it spread out with approved instructors. Knew a couple fellow airline guys that flew them, felt they were safe flown correctly. Operation in Columbia SC had a fleet of them years ago, BankAir I believe was there name.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
The 414 actually cost less per dog than the 310 because the capacity was so much greater. The MU-2 has slightly less capacity than the 414, but it's more "right sized". The 310 was too small, the 414 was generally too big. MU-2's cabin should be "just right." As to costs, we'll see. Everyone I've talked to who's gone to an MU-2 from a 414/421 has said their costs have gone down between Jet-A prices and the less MX. I'm skeptical about that, but the terms on this plane were too good to pass up the opportunity.

We're a dynamic organization and if the cost/benefit doesn't work we'll change course. But the MU-2s have one of the best maintenance programs in terms of keeping costs down, and the things really are reliable with amazing factory support. At least, that's what everyone tells me. We'll see if my experiences match that or not.

To answer your question, with the 414 we were at around $200/dog typically on a trip from Houston to CA or the northeast, assuming an average load of 40. We'll see how it works with this.



The SFAR training mandates that everyone gets what is essentially a type rating for the aircraft. In some ways, it's more restrictive than a standard type rating. I'm looking forward to that level of rigor that's required for training. No doubt, the MU-2s have their characteristics that make them different from the rest of the fleet. Flap use is the big one. In some conditions there's nearly a 40 kt difference in stall speed between full flaps and no flaps. The bottom of the green arc is 101 KIAS. It's a fast plane that likes speed, and the way pilots are used to manipulating the flaps will not work in this plane. The full length fowler flaps plus spoilers change things up there.

I think we once did a poll and nobody on PoA reported having died in an NTSB report.

In all seriousness, it was determined that people who are members of type clubs have a lower incidence of crashing than people who are not. While PoA doesn't count as a type club, I think it has some of the same effect of keeping your head in the game and generally asking good safety questions.
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I don't remember a poll, but for the record I have not died in an MU2 accident.
 
so maybe .....two Ram TSIO-520 engines might be cheaper?...but not as exciting. o_O
 
mscard88 said:
Is there a specific location for the training Ted, or is it spread out with approved instructors. Knew a couple fellow airline guys that flew them, felt they were safe flown correctly. Operation in Columbia SC had a fleet of them years ago, BankAir I believe was there name.
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There are a number of approved instructors, and then there's SimCom.

bradg33 said:
I don't remember a poll, but for the record I have not died in an MU2 accident.
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Are you implying that you want the opportunity to do so? ;)

Checkout_my_Six said:
so maybe .....two Ram TSIO-520 engines might be cheaper? o_O
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Cloud Nine's cost out the door for the two new engines on the 414 was going to be around $70k installed, which would've been a screaming deal. It's possible that the HSI will come in at more than that, it's possible it will come in less. I just won't know until all is said and done. But really, the dollars come out similar. Plus don't forget we are selling the 414. Now, we'll see how much we get for it, but it is for sale.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Are you implying that you want the opportunity to do so? ;)
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No such implication. That said, should you ever need someone to hold down the right seat and work the radios, I suppose I could bring myself to help you out.
 
bradg33 said:
No such implication. That said, should you ever need someone to hold down the right seat and work the radios, I suppose I could bring myself to help you out.
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Interesting thing with the SFAR: Legally, you would be prohibited from touching the controls of the plane. Even an SIC must have the SFAR training.

The one exception carved out was for a safety pilot for going to shoot approaches. For that you just need a multi rating.
 
Zeldman said:
Nice plane..!!!

Fun fact..... In Japanese 2 is pronounced "ni". Like knee. So looking at MU-2... Mu-ni.... muh ni...money....
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mscard88 said:
.....or is it..moo...moo....mooney.....
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Funny part about that is that until 1969, MU-2s for the US market were Mooneys — assembled by Mooney at a new facility in San Angelo TX. Mitsubishi took over the plant when the Mooney company was about to collapse.
 
Pilawt said:
Funny part about that is that until 1969, MU-2s for the US market were Mooneys — assembled by Mooney at a new facility in San Angelo TX. Mitsubishi took over the plant when the Mooney company was about to collapse.
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I was not aware of that.... Thanks..!!!
 
Pilawt said:
Funny part about that is that until 1969, MU-2s for the US market were Mooneys — assembled by Mooney at a new facility in San Angelo TX. Mitsubishi took over the plant when the Mooney company was about to collapse.
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Weren't they called Diamonds?
 
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