Originally Posted by
Centaurus
Friend of mine has bought an MU2. He has been given advice that you should not retract the gear after take off until at least 200agl as the gear doors cause significant drag and if an engine should fail just as the gear comes up controllability and climb rate is a problem until the gear doors are closed. Sounds like a myth to me.
Another instructor said that if an engine failure occurs below 150 knots during the take off climb it is better to deliberately crash land ahead rather than risk loss of control below 150 knots on initial climb-out. Surely this must be another myth as the aircraft would not be certified under these speed conditions.
Any Pprune advice on a recommended website dealing with MU2 flight ops would be appreciated. There certainly seems to be no shortage of personal opinions on the operation of this type and it would be nice to read facts.
One piece of advice, advice that will save your friend's life and the lives of his passengers.
GET GOOD PROPER TRAINING! Find the best MU-2 school in the world and go to it and keep going to it for as long as he owns the the airplane.
The MU-2 is a killer of inexperienced pilots, actually it does a pretty good job of killing experienced pilots as well.
I have nearly 800 hours in MU-2s and count myself lucky. However, I did attend Flight Safety for initial and recurrency training.
Now, about gear retraction, yes the gear doors opening will add drag, however, using the wheel (remember the MU-2 has spoilers only for roll) to keep the wings level will add much more drag. Use rudder and aileron trim to keep the wings level.
It has been a long time, but I do believe that single engine climb speed is around 150kts. Now the MU-2 will come off the runway at around 110 kts. So if one loses an engine just after takeoff you will need to accelerate at least 40kts to 150 before you can start a climb. If you do not have the space to accelerate or you are coming off a hot/high airport,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,well, good luck.
My best advice is to get rid of the blasted thing.