@ San Carlos, CA
March 2024
This Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 Marquise has been a resident at my local airport for many years but I was unable to time it right to see it airborne. My luck finally changed when I was at the Hiller Aviation Museum photographing an outdoor event when I heard an unfamiliar engine being run up. Sure enough it was the MU-2, so I positioned myself for a nice departure shot. Imagine my surprise that the MU-2 has enough power on hand that it took off opposite the traffic pattern. No departure shot but got some nice ones of the runup and taxi.
First flown in 1963, the MU-2 is probably the most successful aircraft to come put of the postwar Japanese industry with over 700 produced from 1963-86. This aircraft was designed as a twin turboprop transport suitable for civil and military roles. The Marquise variant seen here featured a stretched fuselage and upgraded engines, 139 were built. Pilot errors with this high-powered twin resulted in a high accident rate that marred the aircraft’s reputation. After the FAA implemented a MU-2 type rating, accident rates dropped below competing aircraft. In 2013, a MU-2 piloted by Mike Laver, and my late friend Mike Collins, performed an around-the-world flight in 25 days, 30 legs, covering 26,568 miles and 98.1 hrs flight time. September 14, 2013, was the fiftieth anniversary of the MU–2’s first flight, and Laver wanted to fly around the world and be in Nagoya, Japan on the anniversary.