The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries MU-2 is a twin-turboprop, high-wing utility aircraft developed and produced by Japanese industrial conglomerate Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The aircraft took its maiden flight on September 14, 1963 and entered full-scale production later that year. A total of 704 airframes were manufactured during a production run that spanned from 1963 to 1986.
The distinctive Mitsubishi Heavy Industries MU-2 evolved from a clean sheet initiative to develop an airframe that could provide efficient, reliable service for a wide range of utilities, both civil and governmental, including military. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries engineers first began work on the project in the mid 1950s, laying the basis for an aircraft to be powered by turboprop engines. At the time, most aircraft manufacturers were simply swapping turboprop powerplants into aircraft initially designed for piston power, which created efficiency, reliability, and sometimes safety problems.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries mated the power capability of turboprop engines available at the time with a meticulously designed wing, fuselage, and empennage combination. The result was an aircraft that could perform exceptionally well at a range of altitudes in terms of speed and efficiency, had great range, and could operate out of all types of facilities, including unimproved short field airstrips. The company designated the aircraft the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries MU-2 as it was the second design iteration of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Utility series aircraft.
The utility of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries MU-2 is broad ranging. It has successfully proven itself as a business and VIP aircraft, an air ambulance, search and rescue platform, and as a general cargo carrier. It has also served a wide variety of military roles, including liaison and ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) collections. Through the decades, a number of iterations have been created, including those with extended fuselages, enhanced power variants, and versions for extended range.
The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries MU-2 measures 39 feet, 5 inches in length, stands 13 feet, 8 inches high, and has a straight main wing with a span of 39 feet, 2 inches. The wing features wingtip fuel tanks and over-wing spoilers for roll control. It also features full-span, double-slotted flaps. The unique wing design allows for slow take-off and landing speeds and high cruise speeds. The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries MU-2 has a traditional empennage and retractable tricycle landing gear.
The aircraft is powered by two wing-mounted TPE331-6-251 turboprop engines that each produce up to 776 horsepower. Each powerplant turns a 3-blade Hartzell fully feathering, reversible, constant-speed propeller. The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries MU-2 has a range of 1,450 miles, a service ceiling of 29,590 feet above sea level, and it climbs at 2,360 feet per minute. It cruises at 300 miles per hour, has a top speed of 340 mph, and stalls at 115 mph (flaps down). The aircraft can take-off with 2,170 feet of ground roll and it can land using 1,880 feet of runway.
