REVIEW: Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 Marquise for FSX/P3D By Flysimware

Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 Marquise

A review by Mike Cameron

Introduction

   The information below was gathered from the first training video, the product manual and the aircraft kneeboard reference section.  If you would like to print out this reference document, it is located as an HTML document in the simulator aircraft folder.  Also located there is the aircraft checklist.  The Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 Marquise is a high wing all metal, twin engine, pressurized turboprop aircraft.  It is powered by twin Garrett TPE-331-10-511M engines that are flat rated at 715 shaft horsepower per engine.  The Marquise is available in multiple seating configurations of anywhere from 9 to 11 seats plus a cockpit for a crew of two.  It features a one piece wing with an integrated (wet wing) main fuel tank plus outer wing tanks and wing tip fuel tanks.  It is almost perfectly dimensional with a wingspan and fuselage length within just inches of each other. 

Wing Span: 39 feet, 2 inches

Length: 39 feet, 5 inches

Height: 13 feet, 8 inches

  The Mitsubishi MU-2 is one of the most misunderstood aircraft in the history of aviation.  When it was launched to the American market in 1968, it quickly became known for its stellar performance throughout the entirety of the flight envelope.  The Marquise is capable of carrying a large payload at nearly 300 knots true airspeed for over a 1000 nautical miles, while still being able to operate from unimproved runways under 2500 feet long.  Mitsubishi was able to achieve such performance through implementation of numerous unique design features.  Unlike other turboprop aircraft developed at this time which used essential design improvements of a similar piston powered airframe, the MU-2 series was the first corporate turboprop aircraft that was actually designed to be a turboprop aircraft.  The wing is optimized for high speed cruise; it is a short wing with very high wing loading, in fact the wing on the Marquise is not much larger than the wing of a Cessna 172, but has the wing loading of a 30 series Lear Jet.  This was the crucial design feature in terms of high speed cruise but generated a couple of dilemmas.  The first was the lack of room for wing fuel tanks of any substantial size and the second was the lack of low speed handling and performance.  To solve the fuel issue, Mitsubishi elected to install 90 gallon wing tip tanks along with a large main fuselage tank and a couple of small outer wing tanks.  To solve the low speed handling issue, they elected to install full span, double slotted fowler flaps (similar to what airliners use), and when these are fully extended, they increase the wing area of the Marquise by nearly 25 percent.  The result is fantastic high speed and low speed performance.  The Marquise can easily flow into the traffic pattern with smaller general aviation aircraft with ease and is capable of flying approach speeds as low as 102 knots indicated.  The full span fowler flap design also produced another dilemma; they did not leave room for traditional ailerons.  Mitsubishi elected to use spoilers for roll control, which eliminates yaw and was extremely effective.  Unlike ailerons, spoilers remain effective throughout all flight phases, even during a stall progression where normally ailerons would lose all useful effectiveness.  The Mitsubishi Marquise is a very rugged, high quality craftsmanship constructed aircraft, and has only one airframe related airworthiness directive to date and Mitsubishi continues full support for the MU-2 despite being out of production for over 25 years.  According to airliners.net, over 800 of the MU-2 series of aircraft were produce during its production run.

Performance: (from airliners.net and Flysimware performance document)

Max empty equipped weight: 7650 pounds

Max takeoff weight in simulator: 10,356 pounds

Maneuvering Speed Va

• (2500 pounds): 171 KIAS
• (2200 pounds): 181 KIAS
• (1900 pounds): 191 KIAS

Max Structural Cruising Speed Vno: 250 KIAS

Never Exceed Speed: 250 KIAS

Stalling Speed (Max Weight Takeoff) Vs: 82 KIAS

Stall Speed Landing Configuration Vso: 106 KIAS

Best Angle of Climb Speed (Sea Level) Vx: 120 KIAS

Best Rate of Climb Speed (Sea Level) Vy: 150 KIAS

Maximum Flap Speeds:

Flaps 5 Degrees (Takeoff): 175 KIAS

Flaps 20 Degrees (Takeoff): 155 KIAS

(Approach): 99-110 KIAS

Flaps 40 Degrees – Short Fields (Takeoff): 120 KIAS

Flaps 40 Degrees (Approach): 105-119 KIAS

(Landing):  120 KIAS

Flysimware Product Features

   Flysimware’s chief pilot and beta captain is very familiar with this type of turboprop aircraft and with this specific aircraft is the primary reason Flysimware decided to develop this aircraft.  Flysimware was given hundreds of photos and engine sound recordings from an owner of his recently restored MU-2B-60 Marquise.  Similar to the Cessna 441, they have developed what they believe is the most realistic simulation of the Garrett Turboprop equipped aircraft for the simulator on the market today.  Because of FSX limitations on turboprop engines, they have worked around the coding to produce a linked prop shaft direct to the propeller and according to Flysimware; it is the first company to simulate the Garrett turboprop system.  Flysimware has included many animated features throughout the cabin and virtual cockpit.  With custom coding they have developed accurate systems down to the smallest detail.  For virtual pilots that own the Flight1 GTN 750 GPS and or the RealityXP WX 500 Weather Radar, Flysimware has provided options to use these in the virtual panel.  I am using the FSX: SE simulator so the WX500 is not compatible with that simulator but do own the GTN 750 which is compatible with FSX: SE so I will be displaying screen grabs with that GPS installed.  For people that do not own either of these products Flysimware has included a model with a modified GNS 530 GPS with VNAV capability.  The initial release version of the aircraft had three different instrument panel options to choose from, both the Flysimware GNS 530 & Flight 1 GTN 750 GPS with static generic weather radar and the third option was for people that owned both the GTN 750 and the WX500 weather radar.  With one of the updates that have been released for the Marquise, Flysimware has simplified things by eliminating the model with the default GPS and the static generic weather radar and installed a static model of the WX500 in both of the default GPS and GTN 750 models so owners of the WX 500 have their choice of GPS options.

Installation

   Installation of Flysimware aircraft is very easy.  I received the review copy directly from Flysimware so your installation procedure may be different.  After purchase you will be emailed a link to your Flysimware account, login and select “Orders”.  Click on the order number and the next window will have the aircraft download link and the Registration Code.  Copy this code to your windows clipboard and download the aircraft file to a location of your choice.  Flysimware has released several updates to this aircraft since I started the review and rather than patches they are released as full installers.  Flysimware or the vendor that you purchased the Marquise from will notify you about new versions so uninstall the current aircraft and download the new aircraft file.  Besides some operational fixes, Flysimware has also updated some textures so my screen grabs may not look exactly like the promotional pictures.  After the setup file is downloaded and unpacked, start the install procedure and the registration page will open, because you copied the Registration Code to the clipboard, this information is already entered.  Enter your name but a company name is not required.  Select your desired simulator; this product includes a quadruple installer with FSX, FSX-SE, P3Dv1 and P3Dv2 options without additional purchase requirements which is wonderful.  After simulator selection, the installer will automatically find the simulator location and the rest of the install process is self-explanatory.  The MU-2B-60 will be listed under Flysimware as the Publisher or Mitsubishi as the Aircraft Manufacture on the simulator Free Flight Aircraft Selection page.  If you are a person that likes long detailed aircraft manuals, then you will be disappointed because there are only two manuals, available on the product page, a 19 page pilot manual and a 13 page GNS 530 User Manual.  First, I like that these manuals are available before purchase to allow potential customers know some more about the aircraft before purchase.  These documents are designed to supplement the more useful materials, a series of training videos on how to get the most out of this aircraft and these are located on the product page available here:  http://flysimware.com/website/MU_2B_60.html.   Personally I get more out of the training videos rather than trying to find the same information in a manual but the Pilot Guide does cover the basic cockpit layout along with detailed propeller start lock, pressurization and autopilot operation information.

Interior Model

   I want to comment about this right away, if you expect extreme level quality textures, then I would suggest reading some reviews or looking at some aircraft screen grabs before purchasing.  Flysimware is a very small development company that concentrates on trying to develop as realistic as possible flight model and systems rather than having the most beautiful interior & exterior textures and features in the flight simulator world.  I own and have reviewed several of their aircraft and with each new release, the textures and features improve or they add something new to add to the overall experience.  I personally prefer realistic systems and if you also receive wonderful looking textures then that is a bonus.  Now let’s get started with the review of the Flysimware Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 Marquise interior features.

   I want to start off with the new feature that is modeled with this aircraft, rain effects on the windscreen.  There are not a lot of developers that include this feature and I like the effect.  Every once in a while the rain texture changes (hard to describe but looks like you are travelling through the rain).  The windshield wipers are animated to complete the effect.  While still looking at the windscreen, both sun visors can be moved with your mouse and there is a full range of movement which is great instead of just up and down.  Looking at the lower area of the overhead panel I can see the very legible and easy to read placards which is a small but I consider a very important feature.  Looking at the right side of the cockpit I get my first look of the interior textures of the Flysimware Marquise.  The cloth seat cover and right door textures are nice and these are a couple of the features that have improved somewhat which each new aircraft release.  I have read several comments that these are still not good enough for the purchase price of this aircraft but do not have an issue with them and there are already some interior & panel texture modification from experienced users if you would like to try something different.  The interior features that I like the most is that interior items both large and small are three dimensional.  The carpeting looks very realistic which is nice and the DX10 shading textures are excellent.  Also when looking at this direction I can see the beverage cabinet, there have also been complaints about the wood textures of this cabinet and the cockpit door but again I do not have an issue with it and I think it is improved from earlier aircraft.  I like that Flysimware has included individual panels on the sliding cabinet door instead of using just one texture.  Clicking on the cabinet door opens it to reveal the beverage center and the nice looking dispenser and cups inside of the cabinet greatly add to the overall experience.  The one thing that is missing from this animation is that I could not hear a sound effect with opening and closing the door.  The various cockpit labeling is excellent and is legible and easy to read.  It is nice that I could read the small labeling which is wonderful.  I am only just getting started but already I am very impressed with the textures of the Flysimware MU-2B-60 Marquise and with some of the recent patches they have done some upgrading to some textures.  Looking at the pilot seat from the right seat view, the textures on this side of the cockpit are just as nice.  The green window tinting on the side windows is an accurate reproduction of the real world aircraft window which is a nice realistic feature but if you do not like this effect, the version 1.6 update added a click spot to switch textures.  This is done by clicking anywhere on the left or right cockpit window frame.  Closing the cabin door requires a two-step process.  First, click on the small strap at the bottom of the door then click on the door to close.  It is easier to perform from a cabin view but clicking on the bottom of the door will place this strap back in place.  I like this small but realistic feature.  The sliding door animation is excellent.  Now let’s enter the passenger cabin to take a look around and there are five cabin views to select from. 

   The first cabin view is at the forward area of the cabin and if the door is open you can see inside to the cockpit.  The door can be open and closed from the passenger cabin also.  From this view I get to see one of the improved interior textures included with this aircraft, the pillows and window shades have a detailed pattern instead of just one texture effect.  I am going to turn on the battery to display another nice feature of this aircraft, the passenger cabin information screen.   This information is also available from the instrument panel but I would sometimes open this view to get a quick look at this information.  The Fasten Seat Belts and No Smoking sign is also illuminated which greatly add to a realistic experience.  Passenger cabin labeling and signage are also very well done.  The curtains cannot be pulled shut but this feature maybe could be added to a future aircraft.  Similar to the cockpit textures and features, I like to think that that passenger cabin features have improved from the previous release the Cessna 441.  The Seat 2 view allows me to get a good view of both tray tables in the stowed position.  Similar to the cabin door it is a multistep process to open the tray tables and the tables on both sides of the cabin open which is nice.  This is also a nice view to show the interior lighting of the Flysimware Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 which is controlled by knobs in the rear of the aircraft and the lighting effect is also very nice.  The lights can also be controlled from the 2D Hangar window.  Other options available from this window are to repair and fill the tanks, open/close simulator map, default GPS, Kneeboard & ATC window and to select the aircraft start settings.  The Seat 4 view is of the rear passenger cabin which contains the main exit, (can be opened by clicking on the door handle from the cabin which is great), the cargo compartment and the toilet.  The door animation is very nice and this operation also includes a sound effect which is wonderful.  The features here are also very nice with everything three dimensional which adds to the overall look.  The privacy door operates exactly the same way as the forward cabin door.

Exterior Features

   There are three exterior paints and they are repeated twice for both of the installed GPS options, Flysimware GNS 530 or Flight1 GTN 750.  The first screen grab is of the exterior spot view and if you look at the propellers you can see that they are in the unlocked stop lock position.  Whenever you load any of the aircraft, the propellers are always in the unlocked position; I do not know why Flysimware decided to do this.  There is a realistic procedure for placing them in the locked position but I use the quick way since you have to perform this action every time that you load one of the Marquise.  Press Shift+1 or use the simulator menu to open the Hangar window and select “All Systems Off” will quickly return the propellers to the proper locked position.  Watching from an exterior view provides a nice animation of this operation.  Opening the Aircraft Options window (Shift+2) will also confirm the locked position.  There are other exterior features that are controlled with this window.  A feature that I always look for with premium aircraft are static ground objects for when the aircraft is in a cold and dark configuration.  As you can see from the Aircraft Options window, everything that should be included is.  These objects include wheel chocks, sun shades, engine plugs and luggage options.  What I especially like is that you can also hide the crew from view when parked, a feature that is often overlooked by other developers.  This window also allows you to load/hide the copilot, open the door, have the crew where headsets and/or sunglasses and display the fuel available when in flight.  These static objects all look very realistic and greatly add to the experience.  You can even read the wording on the Inlet, Exhaust, & Pitot tube covers which is great.  The crew is also nicely animated without being too extreme.  From the zoomed in spot view can see some of the nice exterior details that Flysimware has included with the Mitsubishi Marquise.  For the rest of the exterior review I am going to open the various angle views to provide a close up view of the various exterior features.

The first view angle view is of the wing and the cabin door.  From this view I can see the turbine wheel and the engine exhaust.  The turbine wheel is animated when the engine is running, which is great.  From this view I can also see the rugged and detailed landing gear that is installed on this aircraft.  I look forward to some landings at undeveloped airstrips.  I can see other exterior details from this view such as the window & door components.  I just wish you could open the door from the exterior view; you need to open the door either from the passenger cabin or the Aircraft Options window.  At least the outside door handle is animated during the door operation which is nice and with the door open you can see inside of the cabin as well as a small step that lowers when the door is open.  The associated sound effect of the door opening and closing is also very impressive.  The next view “Front Luggage” lets me see some of the “wear” textures that are modeled with this aircraft.  I like this because I expect a clean cabin for obvious reasons, but it is natural to have some exterior environmental textures on all aircraft.  I just wish Flysimware would have provided an option to open this door; the luggage is displayed in the rear passenger cabin.  This angle also provides a better view of the landing gear components.  I am going to zoom in with the first engine view to get a good look at the impressive propellers and even though I cannot read the wording on the labels, at least they have some detail.  I love the reflections on the propeller cone.  I can also see the first stage compressor turbine and inlet from this view and this is also animated with the engine running.  The “Right Wing” view allows me to see the large wing tip fuel tanks that are installed on this aircraft.  So far I am very impressed with the exterior textures and features that Flysimware has included with the Mitsubishi Marquise, there are not any blurry textures and as far as I can tell all exterior features are three dimensional.  The “Tail” view allows me to see the unique design features that Mitsubishi needed to use that were mentioned in the introduction because of the short wing area.  This view allows me to see the full span slotted fowler flap system for low speed handling and the spoilers for roll control.  The introductory training video does an excellent job explaining these features so if you have not already done so, I recommend watching it.  Exterior lighting is very nice, I do not know how realistic it is or if it could have a different effect, and is controlled from the cockpit or the Hangar window. 

Instrument Panel

   As I mentioned during the exterior review section, there are two different instrument panels to select from depending if you are an owner of the Flight1 GTN 750 GPS.  As I commented about in the introduction, with one of the last updates, Flysimware eliminated their static generic weather radar and replaced it with the static Reality XP weather radar model.  By doing this there was not a need for three panel options to select and owners of the RXP unit who did not own the Flight 1 GPS could use their weather radar with the default GPS.  Obviously, if you do not own this weather radar you will have just the three dimensional base and screen of this unit but at least it is not a generic non-functioning unit.  Flysimware also said by doing this it allowed them to utilize better night lighting even if you do not own the Reality XP weather radar.  Because Flysimware does not have the coding for the RealityXP product, the knobs are not animated but I do not have an issue with this.  The second screen grab is with the default GPS and the third is with the GTN 750 installed.  For owners of Prepar3D and FSX: SE, the WX500 is not an option because those simulators are not supported but all is not lost if you own the Active Sky Next weather software.  An experienced simulator user developed free weather radar that uses Active Sky Next weather and another user modified the Marquise instrument panel to be able to use this weather radar where the WX500 is located.  Details about this weather radar available here:   http://forum.avsim.net/topic/459050-another-radar-gauge-for-vc-window-usage/ and the instrument panel modification: http://forum.avsim.net/topic/466357-asn-weather-gauge , instructions located at bottom of first page.  It is nice to now have operating weather radar on my instrument panel.  The next two screen grabs are of this weather radar in operation and of the night lighting effects which are very nice.  Now I want to quickly comment about the instrument panel textures, some people have complained about these textures but I do not have an issue with them.  Are they as good as other developers who also make aircraft with realistic flight models and systems, no, but with each new release the textures do improve at least I think they do.   Now if you would like to install alternative textures please visit this forum page to download: http://forum.avsim.net/topic/468490-alternate-mu-2-interior/ . 

   The introductory training video and the manual does an excellent job explaining about the instrument panel so I am not going to repeat that information here.  What I am going to comment on is the instruments that may be new to most flight simulator pilots.  The left side of the cockpit contains the circuit breakers (not simulated), avionics switches (yellow base with white switches, works in tandem) and the annunciator panel.  The small lettering on the labels of the circuit breakers are readable which is nice but the master avionics switch does not have a label but as long as you remember about the colors, you will remember.  If you would like to hide the yoke simply press the small button on the yoke and press the “Return Yoke” flag to return it to view.  The instrument that is most affected by the yoke in place is the Transponder because the 8 and 9 buttons are obstructed by the yoke.  There are several alternate panel views and the only view that provides an unobstructed view after panning up is the “Autopilot” view.  I usually like to fly with the yoke in place but with the time it takes to cycle between the views, I will probably just temporarily hide it when I need to use the Transponder.  Owners of Track IR will probably have this issue or you can adjust your eye point position but again for the amount of time that it takes it is probably just as quick to hide the yoke.  I am now going to start the engines so that I can see the rest of the instrument panel in action.  The left side of the instrument panel contains your primary flight and navigation instruments, operable clock/timer, master battery (looks like a key), both generator switches, Inverter & electrical gauges, Garmin panel (used primarily with default GPS), Transponder, Sperry DME, Ground Proximity Unit, Sperry Altitude Selector (for autopilot) and below this the fuel valves and tank selector.  All of these instruments are easy to see from the default virtual cockpit position and all have fluid movements.  I now want to discuss two instruments that I have never had in a flight simulator aircraft before, the Insight TAS 1000 Windicator and the companion instrument the TAS 1000 unit.  I wish Flysimware would have provided more information about these instruments in the video or the manual but I was able to find some instructions on the internet.  Joe does say in the training video that this is an after delivery option but they decided to model them with the Mitsubishi Marquise.  Basically, the Windicator continuously displays the actual winds aloft data for the aircrafts current altitude, the wind direction relative to the aircraft’s heading (outer ring), head or tail wind component (single blinking LED on inner circle  – not simulated), wind speed in knots (same inner circle, each LED represents 2 knots) and drift angle (inner bar graph, each LED = 5 degrees).  On my screen grab, the wind speed is 24 knots from the West (if I am reading this correctly) and I have a leftward drift angle of about 5 degrees.  The only issue that I have with this instrument is that it is very hard to see from the default VC position.  What I did to see this instrument closer is to zoom in on it with the Flight Instruments alternate panel view.  The TAS 1000 instrument provides some useful information and can easily be controlled from the default position.  The three display modes are True Airspeed, Outside Air Temperature and current Ground Speed.

   The middle area of the panel contains the engine gauges, GPS & weather radar and the COM & NAV 2 secondary radios.  The engine instruments have fluid movements and are very easy to read from the default view which is great.  I use the Radio Stack alternate view to program a flight plan into the GTN 750 but it is also possible from the default view.  With the Version 1.6 update, Flysimware provided a click spot on the GTN 750 base to make opening the GTN 750 2D window easier.  I love that the secondary radios are included so that I can dial and monitor an ATIS frequency while still having the current ATC controller dialed on COM1.  Above the GPS is the Autopilot Mode Selector and the caution alerts.  Below the mode selector buttons are the fire suppression handles and a couple or warning light test buttons.  Be careful when performing the warning light tests because if you mistakenly press on one of the fire suppressor handles, that engine will shut down.  I know because it happened to me a couple of times.  Above the mode selector is compass which is also easy to see from the default view.  The Overhead panel contains the lighting, Pitot Heat and Anti-Ice switches.  The labeling is large enough to be clear and easy to read and have a nice sound effect associated with their operation.  The right side of the instrument panel contains the secondary flight instruments, a HSI and the aircraft air conditioning and pressurization controls.  The air conditioning controls can be operated from the default view but I needed to use the Right Seat view in order to operate the pressurization controls.  Below the lower engine instruments are the gear handle, trim controls, throttles, condition levers, flaps and the engine start controls.  The autopilot controls are on the floor and there is an Autopilot alternate view if this is easier for you to use.  The rudder & aileron trim controls are easier to use from this view.  I am very impressed with the instrument panel on the Flysimware MU-2B-60 Marquise and even though it looks intimidating it has a very logical layout and easy to remember design.  Also nice is that most of the controls can be operated from the default VC view with greatly adds to the realism.

Flight Model

   Every time you load one of the aircraft the first time and open the Fuel/Payload window you will notice that for some strange reason Flysimware decided to overload the aircraft by default.  Unless you edit the aircraft.cfg (details on support forum), you will need to adjust these weights before the first flight every time.  I do not mind starting with a full fuel load but I would rather only start with the crew weight and I will add the passenger weights if I want too.  Before jumping into the cockpit and attempting to start the Garrett engines and if you try this you will probably quickly become frustrated because there is a proper procedure.  I recommend watching the training videos again located here:https://youtu.be/hxHK2n7KuoQ?list=PLm_Rn0TNmaokiTzoA8tNr2XbkcqFQ3TEQ.  If you like to follow checklists, Flysimware has included a kneeboard checklist and an html document in the aircraft folder if you would like a hard copy.  This checklist is nice but does not include every procedure mentioned in the video so I created my own to follow.  I must have copied the procedures correctly because I was able to start the engines without issue.  After starting several times I felt confident that I could do an engine start from memory but would refer to my checklist to verify that did everything.  What I would forget is to perform some of the procedures on the later checklists with some being important and others less so.  I want to say that I am not an expert on flight dynamics so I approach my reviews from an experienced flight simulator user point of view and will not be comparing simulator performance to real world performance tables.  I will leave that to others.  I am also not going to write about every procedure item and will try to write about my experiences or provide a tip to flight simulator users that may be new to a turbine simulated aircraft.  The engine startup procedure is pretty straight forward and most pilots should be able to memorize the procedures after a few starts.  The only comment that I want to write here is that both the master battery and the rotating beacon have a powering up sound effect when they are turned on which is nice and I can hear the battery effect more than the beacon but there is a sound effect according to the training video. 

Now that the startup procedures are completed it is time to turn on the taxi light and start the taxi to the active runway.  If the Flysimware Marquise is your first simulated turbine aircraft, applying power is somewhat different than what you are used to.  When the aircraft does not start to move immediately when applying some power resist the urge to apply some more throttle.  It takes some time with turbine engines.  With the engines running the engine torque on my system was about 14 percent.  Apply a very small amount of power and wait for the aircraft to start moving, on my system this was about 18 percent torque but should be no more than 20 percent so watch this instrument when applying power.  Depending on your hardware settings it may go to a higher setting at first so quickly reduce power to a lower torque setting.  If you are moving too fast, again, reduce power and apply brakes if necessary.  The airport surface is also a factor with the amount of power that may be needed and once you get used to this the Marquise is a very easy aircraft to taxi.  Once you approach the runway hold point, this aircraft does not have run-up procedures but rather before takeoff procedures.  Place the Transponder into Mode-C or ALT mode, verify the annunciator lights are out, test the caution lights, turn on the departure lights (strobe, landing and if you have not already done so, NAV light and taxi light can now be turned off).  Here is the procedure the procedure that I would sometimes forget if trying to do the checklist from memory, Ignition switch to the “Auto” position.  Flaps should be at 20 degrees for takeoff, trim set for takeoff and the verify fuel selector is in the “Auto” position, another one that I would sometimes forget and would have some unwanted consequences later in the flight if on a long cross country.  The moral of this story is to use the checklists.  Now would also be a good time to enter the assigned or cruise altitude in the Altitude selector and enable the autopilot modes for your trip, just do not turn on the autopilot.  After lining up with the centerline, move the condition levers to the Takeoff/Landing position and verify that all of the previous setup procedures are completed.  Similar to the taxi procedure, gradually apply power and rotate at 100 to 105 knots and I try to aim for about 95 percent torque.  If you are a registered owner of FSUIPC I highly recommend linking your throttle controls so that they move as one.  With my CH Throttle Quadrant until I did this it despite my best efforts the left and right power levers did not want to work together so one of them would always have more power than the other.  This is probably a calibration issue but it was easier for me to link the controls.  After you have established a positive rate of climb, raise the landing gear and raise the flaps from 20 to 5.  After reached about 500 feet raise the flaps all the way up.  Now is the time to enable Prop Sync, turn on the Yaw Dampener, retract the landing lights and if you want turn on the autopilot.  The autopilot and flight director modes have been fixed with the patches and I am not going to explain in detail about them because the training video and the manual do a pretty good job.  Most experienced simulator pilots should not have a problem memorizing the takeoff and climb procedures.  I like to hand fly until I reach my cruise altitude and this aircraft is a real joy to hand fly because it responds nicely to my control movements and is fairly easy to trim.  As with all new aircraft it I needed some practice to trim just right.  According to the video, the ideal climb airspeed for this aircraft is 180 to 200 knots at a 95 percent torque.  The Marquise also climbs very fast so depending on your cruise altitude; you should be able to reach it in no time.  Another difference between a turbine and a piston aircraft is there is not a traditional mixture control that you need to lean or enrich as you climb and descend.  After you place the condition levers in the Takeoff/Landing setting, they can stay there until you land, so one less thing to think about.  Once I reached my cruise altitude I turned on the autopilot and depending on the flight length would enable Altitude hold and the NAV modes on the autopilot selector or would just hand fly if it was a short flight.  Always continue to monitor the instruments, respond and follow ATC commands and if flying VFR, enjoy the outside scenery.  The training videos do not provide recommended cruise power settings so if you want the ultimate realism, consult power tables or just adjust the power for a speed that you would like to cruise at.  For today’s short flight from Homer to Kenai Alaska, I am cruising at 3500 feet at about 85 percent torque and getting about 230 knots indicated and 238 knots true airspeed.  Plenty fast for this short flight.  Obviously, your performance results will be different and I am not going to say what the recommended power settings are, others can report this. As I mentioned earlier the Marquise is a wonderful aircraft to manually fly whether a short hop from point A to point B or a cross county flight using visual and or navigation waypoints.  I did not have any issues flying to and from a VOR using either the GTN 750 navigation radio or the NAV2 radio which is great.  For those long cross country flights, I am happy to report that all of the autopilot modes work great after the aircraft updates, at least the ones that I used.  I am not the most experienced pilot at flying instrument approaches with or without the autopilot so I will leave that review for others.  The manual and the support forum provides details about operating the autopilot so I am not going to detail it here other than to say once you learn how to use it properly, it is very easy to use.

The training videos also does not provide details about a proper descent procedure so I just reduced power and started my descent when I felt that I was close enough to my destination.  If you are using the Flight 1 GTN 750 GPS, it does have a utility for calculating where you should start your descent if you want to use it.  The video does specify that you should be at 175 knots when you approach the pattern altitude and I personally try to be at that speed well before the traffic pattern so that I can finish the approach without having an extended downwind, base and final leg.  After entering the pattern at the proper approach speed you can now lower the landing lights, gear and set the flaps to 5 degrees.  After turning to base, reduce speed to 155 knots and lower the flaps to 20 degrees which is all that is required for most airports.  Flaps 40 should only be used for short fields.  I practiced landing at a couple of short airstrips and between the full flaps setting and the placing the engines in reverse, the Flysimware Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 Marquise is a wonderful simulated aircraft for those remote destinations.  Also this is the time to turn off Prop Sync which is a procedure that I would sometimes forget when performing these procedures from memory.  Final approach speeds is 110 to 112 knots and after turning to final, verify Prop Sync off and that the condition levers are still in the Takeoff/Landing position.  When you have the runway is in sight, turn off the autopilot and the Yaw Dampener.  If you have setup the final approach correctly, once you touchdown, place the throttles in reverse to assist with braking.  It took me several approaches to get the proper altitude (I was usually too high on final) as well as the descent, approach and landing speeds correct but after some practice I was able to land this aircraft without issue.  I recommend  linking the throttle controls in the simulator so that they always work as one because if one is in a different position then the other when you place them in reverse, your aircraft will want to veer off of the runway.  My throttle quadrant is getting old so you may not have this issue.  I think most simulator pilots should not have an issue landing the Flysimware MU-2B-60 because it is very forgiving as long as you are at or slightly above the recommended speeds.   Now that you have the Marquise slowed down, it is now time to place the condition levers to the Ground Idle position and retract the landing lights.  When clear of the runway, place the Ignition switches in the off position and the rest of the procedures are the same as all aircraft, strobe lights off, Transponder to standby, retract the flaps and turn on the taxi lights.  Shutting down the engines is relatively straight forward but just like the startup procedure does have a proper procedure to power down the turbine engines.  Quickly, this procedure is all lights off except for the beacon, all heating controls to the off position, master avionics switches to off, fuel transfer switches off, and the inverter and generator switches to the off position.  All of the above are probably similar to other flight simulator aircraft but the next procedure will probably be new, at least it was for me.  Right click on each Run/Crank switch to the “Crank” position then use the mouse wheel button on either of these switches to pull both of them into the “Stop” position simultaneously.  Optimally, you want both engines to shut down simultaneously (real world procedure) and right after doing this quickly move both throttles into the reverse position to reengage the Start Locks.  Finally, turn off the beacon light and the master battery switch.  These procedures are not all that complicated and most experienced pilots should not have a problem remembering the procedures but I recommend watching the training videos and following the checklists (or your notes) to get everything done right.  I am not an expert in flight dynamics so I hope that I have explained everything correctly.  Before writing my formal conclusion, I just want to say that the Flysimware Mitsubishi Mu-2B-60 Marquise is a wonderful aircraft to fly and I look forward to using this aircraft on my medium to long cross country flights.

Conclusion:

Accessibility

  The Flysimware Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 Marquise is very accessible.  Besides the Flysimware store it is also available from a variety of other flight simulator retail outlets which is great if you are purchasing from a different country than where Flysimware is located.  The only downside is that updates to the aircraft require reinstalling the aircraft again and some of these other retail outlets may take some time to update their stores with the new files.

Affordability

   Some may disagree with me about this but even at $41.99 USD, I still consider this a very good value.  First, Flysimware is one of the few aircraft developers that are not charging separately for FSX and P3D Version 2 licensing, the multiple installer is included.  Also if you own either the Flight 1 GTN 750 GPS and or the RealityXP WX 500 weather radar, Flysimware also supports those products as part of the package without a separate upgrade purchase which is great. 

Ease of Installation

   I received the review aircraft directly from Flysimware so your experience may be different.  Installation is very quick and easy.  When downloading the aircraft from your account page copy the Registration Code to the Windows Clipboard and when you are at the registration page this information is already entered for you which a wonderful feature for the people like me who are not the best typists.  No complicated email or other unusual authorization procedures which is great. The rest of the install process is very straight forward and very easy.  

Features & System Performance

   I have owned several Flysimware aircraft and with each new release they try to improve on the previous release which is a wonderful quality.  First, if you want to have your simulated aircraft to include extreme level textures as well as the most realistic flight model available, well than I suggest that you read multiple reviews, watch the free training and other videos to see if what Flysimware has modeled is good enough for you.  Personally, I do not have an issue with the Flysimware textures and as I commented earlier they try to improve these with each new aircraft release and they even did some work on the textures while fixing some of the post release issues.  Is it at the quality of other developer levels, no, but some of these other developers also charge a separate licensing fee for both FSX and P3Dv2.  Flysimware has done a very good job with the various aircraft animation and sound effects.  Flysimware stated that they have created a realistically simulated Garrett turbine engine startup and shutdown procedure and I am not an expert at flight dynamics but I believe that this has been realistically modeled.  As far as I know the flight model is also realistically simulated.  As far as I am concerned a realistic flight model is more important to me that extreme level textures.  System performance even when using the Flight 1 GTN 750 GPS was excellent on my system.  The manual is very short and provides just enough information but Flysimware did create a series of excellent training videos that helped me learn about the Marquise better than a manual ever would.  There are probably other more detailed documents available on the internet if you require more detailed documentation.  Finally, as with all products there are always some post release issues and Flysimware was quick to fix these issues and others that were reported with a series of aircraft updates which is wonderful.

Final Thoughts

  This has turned into a rather lengthy review so I am going to keep this very short.  I am very impressed with the Flysimware Mitsubishi MU-2B-60 Marquise aircraft for FSX and Prepar3D.  I believe they have developed an aircraft with realistic procedures and improved textures & other features from their earlier aircraft.  I am very happy and I am sure many other simulator pilots will be very happy to include this aircraft in their virtual hangar.  Also, I believe pilots of all skill levels should not have an issue learning to operate this aircraft as long as they watch the training videos and take the time operate the aircraft properly.  The only two real issues that I have with the Flysimware Mitsubishi Marquise is that every time you load the aircraft, Flysimware has overloaded the aircraft and the propellers are always in the unlocked start lock position and needs to be locked before starting the engines.  The only two minor features that I would like to see added to this aircraft is the ability to open the cabin door using the outside handle and I would also like to open the forward baggage compartment.  I want to thank Flysimware for providing the review copy of this aircraft.  For details visit the product page located here: http://flysimware.com/website/MU_2B_60.html and the official support forum is located here: http://forum.avsim.net/forum/728-the-flysimware-official-support-forum/ .

Test System

Hardware:

Computer Specs:

Intel Desktop Computer

Intel i5 4670K 3.4Ghz Non OC Processor

8GB DDR3 1833 Memory

2TB SATA HD (7200 RPM)

NVIDIA GeForce GTX970 Video Card with 4GB GDDR5 Memory

Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Joystick

Software:

FSX: Steam Edition, Windows 7 – 64 Bit

REX 4 Texture Direct with Soft Clouds

Orbx HD Trees, Global, Vector, Europe Landclass & Multiple Regions

FS Global 2010 FTX Compatible

DX10 Scenery Fixer

FSX Fair Weather Theme

Flight Test Time: 25 hours