MU-2 NTS Check Video

[Ted]

This video popped up in the wayback, so I decided to post it for anyone interested in seeing what an NTS check/in-flight shutdown looks like on a TPE-331 in an MU-2.

Back when we got the MU-2, it needed a hot section done. Any time a propeller is removed from a TPE-331, you need to do an in-flight shutdown to make sure the NTS system (sort of like an auto feather, but not quite) is working correctly.

This video was taken 5 years ago, I had... 25ish? hours in the MU-2. Basically enough time to complete the training (I accomplished that in minimum time), did one dog trip to California and back, and took it to the shop. A good friend who flew with me a lot came along and recorded the video.

Despite all the hype, MU-2s fly great on one engine.

 

[luvflyin]

This video popped up in the wayback, so I decided to post it for anyone interested in seeing what an NTS check/in-flight shutdown looks like on a TPE-331 in an MU-2.

Back when we got the MU-2, it needed a hot section done. Any time a propeller is removed from a TPE-331, you need to do an in-flight shutdown to make sure the NTS system (sort of like an auto feather, but not quite) is working correctly.

This video was taken 5 years ago, I had... 25ish? hours in the MU-2. Basically enough time to complete the training (I accomplished that in minimum time), did one dog trip to California and back, and took it to the shop. A good friend who flew with me a lot came along and recorded the video.

Despite all the hype, MU-2s fly great on one engine.

Kinda miss the ol' bird, eh. Are you shopping yet? Was that the trip when los Angeles was on fire and you were wondering about TFR's?

 

[Ted]

Kinda miss the ol' bird, eh. Are you shopping yet? Was that the trip when los Angeles was on fire and you were wondering about TFR's?

Definitely not shopping, especially in this market.

I don’t miss aircraft ownership or really anything about it. It was a real pain and expensive. Maybe the one thing I liked was making modifications that improved the performance and efficiency of the aircraft, that was a fun process and rewarding.

I miss flying on challenging days and the satisfaction that comes with taking off in low IFR, flying in IMC much of the way and landing to an instrument approach. Weather was my favorite thing, along with flights that became challenging because of routing or other issues. Icing? Yes, that was fun. Maybe my favorite flight in the MU2 was taking off pre-dawn out of Missoula on a snowy morning, low overcast, coming home to an ILS in snow to a snowy runway. What a fun challenge, and a feeling of accomplishment when I shut off the engines.

But, Cloud Nine was what gave me that mission, and that mission doesn’t exist anymore. My only needs for personal travel are to New York City to check on my mother, and you just can’t beat Delta for that. Even if I still had the MU2 it would be slower and I would be landing at an airport less convenient (LGA is the closest to mom’s apartment). And a first class ticket on Delta is still well cheaper than the fuel would be (forget any of the other fees).

There is no plane that does what I’d need to make any sort of sense within anything close to something I could afford. While a lot of people have bought that I could afford to do the flying I did running Cloud Nine on my own, that was never true. Reality is I couldn’t even pretend to afford an MU2 myself, and piston twins were my favorite anyway.

An RV-4 with a Ted-spec 540 could push 200 and still be too slowed but be cheap and fun enough that it might work, assuming acquisition cost was effectively zero. I’ve always loved Lancair 360s, but at this point they’re all old composite home-builds, and I don’t think I’d be comfortable with that. Another 310 would be good too, but again, expensive and too slow.