It made its maiden flight in September 1963 and was produced until 1986. It is one of postwar Japan's most successful aircraft, with 704 manufactured in Japan and San Angelo, Texas, in the United States. Work on the MU-2, Mitsubishi's first postwar aircraft design, began in 1956. Designed as a light twin turboprop transport suitable for a variety of civil and military roles, the MU-2 first flew on 14 September 1963. This first MU-2, and the three MU-2As built, were powered by the Turbomeca Astazou turboprop. Civil MU-2s powered by Garrett engines were certified as variants of the MU-2B, using the MU-2B type followed by a number. For marketing purposes, each variant was given a suffix letter; the MU-2B-10, for example, was sold as the MU-2D, while the MU-2B-36A was marketed as the MU-2N. The MU-2 has a high cruise speed coupled with a low landing speed. This is accomplished by using over-wing spoilers instead of conventional ailerons for roll control, allowing the use of full-span double-slotted flaps on the trailing edge of the wing; the very large flaps give the MU-2 wing loading comparable to a Beechcraft King Air in landing configuration, while having wing loading comparable to a light jet in cruise. The spoilers are highly effective, even when the MU-2 wing is stalled, and the lack of ailerons completely eliminates adverse yaw. For details of the production,operational history and variants of the MU-2, click here. Specifications below are for the stretched fuselage MU-2L variant.
