My dad worked on what I think was the original prototype. He told me he used the Me262 for inspiration on some of the fuselage. I think the handling characteristics are a result of an economic decision made by Ed. The wing was designed to have a twist, and he changed it after my dad left San Antonio and went back to Fairchild. All commercial aircraft are a compilation of compromises. I like all of the nice comments here, and I understand why there are disparaging comments. As I recall he was down there for six weeks in the summer of 1972. That’s not a lot of time....
Some have said, what a lovely aircraft. Well let me tell you, as a passenger it is worse than horrible. The cabin is tiny, you enter & crawl to your seat, it is quite impossible, unless you are a child to stand. The first officer has to give the safety info kneeling on the floor! Matthiashaenni makes lovely videos, just listen to those turboprops, that noise is much worse inside, you need to wear ear defenders. I flew from Gloucester UK to the Isle of Man & return on one. The landing back at base was terrible. The pilots made three attempts to land & I think many of us thought our final days had arrived. Never again.
I flew on one a number of times in Australia. Seemed fine to me. OK, so perhaps there's no room to stand up straight, but it's a small plane - what do you expect? I can't stand up straight in my car either. If there are multiple attempts to land, that's not the fault of the aircraft. Presumably the weather was bad. You may have thought you were in danger, but provided the approaches were conducted professionally, you were safe.
People! it's not any worse than a Beech 1900 or a Emb 110, the competition when it was designed. You are just spoiled by the newer Emb 120's, and the Bombardier Q400's which to me is actually worse than a Metro since they tried to cram too many seats abreast into the airplane. Of course, I am biased because I have time in Metros and Merlins. But that also means I know the dimensions. And these new M-T props make the airplane a lot easier on the ears from when I was training. The worst was the old Metro II with the 3 blade props and 331-10's spinning like crazy. The Metro III improved to the 331-11 with 4 blade props turning slower. The M-T props are as quiet as any now.
These planes are for designed for short hops. I flew in a Metro III once. Try sitting in the middle of the aircraft and the vibration will litterally shake your tooth fillings out. Must be very tiring to fly day in and day out.
Really nice, very good sound and so close to the action as well. When he let the breaks off the plane really bounced on the nose gear! agree with all the other positive comments here, nice one as always,
The Metroliner was omega 25 years Agora in Service by RFG in Germany serving Nürnberg-Dortmund and Nürnberg-Bremen by Roland Air. It was a very familiar way of flying - but quite noisy inside the cabin.
Looks like a nice little plane for the family. Intresting comments below but I have a large family and I'm not worried how comfortable they are, I fly in a Gulfstream. That's what I would say if I won the billion dollar lottery.... I can barely afford this Samsung G-4 phone that im watching on. I would be thankful and happy with a plastic model of this airplane. She is pretty and I would be happy flying it.
Improvements beyond the Metro III provided better systems, more power and a further increase in takeoff weight. This design effort resulted in the SA227 CC (for Commuter Category) and SA227-DC models, initially called the Metro IV then renamed Metro 23.
Maybe OK for small cargo or mail loads but sure as hell not suitable for passengers. Payload is limited. Can’t haul passengers and luggage at the same time. One engine performance is really doubtful.
The metro has some good maintenance features, but the nose wheel steering was totally unreliable, an old metro driver told me, you would land and the airplane would decide to take a powder and head for the side of the runway, you could not control it. I flew a factory demonstrator back in the 90s and remember it handled like a sack of shit, on short final had to run the ailerons from stop to stop to keep the plane level, I would have been doing aileron rolls in something like a King Air 200.
When the went from the Metro II to the III, they extended the wing several feet but didn't do anything with the ailerons, if I recall. It is heavy on the controls. The ones I flew had no autopilot or yaw damper. You earned your pay flying that airplane.
Not mainstream, but a prop with character- I like it a lot!
That is some insanely loud buzz!
My dad worked on what I think was the original prototype. He told me he used the Me262 for inspiration on some of the fuselage. I think the handling characteristics are a result of an economic decision made by Ed. The wing was designed to have a twist, and he changed it after my dad left San Antonio and went back to Fairchild. All commercial aircraft are a compilation of compromises. I like all of the nice comments here, and I understand why there are disparaging comments. As I recall he was down there for six weeks in the summer of 1972. That’s not a lot of time....
Thank you very much for your comment. Much appreciated.
Wall the fairchild's planes looked different from other aircraft. Metro liner is no exception. A beautiful plane.
Incredible footage of this awesome turboprop!
I currently work the Metro 23. Yes, it is small. But the performance and sound is fantastic! I'm going to miss them when we switch to the KingAir.
Thank you for your nice comment. Sadly, I have never flown on a Metroliner. Must be very cool. All the best, Matt
Some have said, what a lovely aircraft. Well let me tell you, as a passenger it is worse than horrible. The cabin is tiny, you enter & crawl to your seat, it is quite impossible, unless you are a child to stand. The first officer has to give the safety info kneeling on the floor! Matthiashaenni makes lovely videos, just listen to those turboprops, that noise is much worse inside, you need to wear ear defenders. I flew from Gloucester UK to the Isle of Man & return on one. The landing back at base was terrible. The pilots made three attempts to land & I think many of us thought our final days had arrived. Never again.
I flew on one a number of times in Australia. Seemed fine to me. OK, so perhaps there's no room to stand up straight, but it's a small plane - what do you expect? I can't stand up straight in my car either. If there are multiple attempts to land, that's not the fault of the aircraft. Presumably the weather was bad. You may have thought you were in danger, but provided the approaches were conducted professionally, you were safe.
I do agree. Worst flying experience. Claustrophobic.
The cabin is very narrow.
People! it's not any worse than a Beech 1900 or a Emb 110, the competition when it was designed. You are just spoiled by the newer Emb 120's, and the Bombardier Q400's which to me is actually worse than a Metro since they tried to cram too many seats abreast into the airplane. Of course, I am biased because I have time in Metros and Merlins. But that also means I know the dimensions. And these new M-T props make the airplane a lot easier on the ears from when I was training. The worst was the old Metro II with the 3 blade props and 331-10's spinning like crazy. The Metro III improved to the 331-11 with 4 blade props turning slower. The M-T props are as quiet as any now.
These planes are for designed for short hops. I flew in a Metro III once. Try sitting in the middle of the aircraft and the vibration will litterally shake your tooth fillings out. Must be very tiring to fly day in and day out.
that Metro sounds very nice..........
a five-bladed LIKE for this stork!!
Really nice, very good sound and so close to the action as well. When he let the breaks off the plane really bounced on the nose gear! agree with all the other positive comments here, nice one as always,
Nice ones matt
Thank you very much Colin!
Love the way this aircraft looks! Great job!
Great video, love this plane
great plane mate looks fantastic thanks for sharing this great view on Bern airport and this nice plane
Awesome video, nice twin prop, don't believe I've heard of this twin prop before....Looks cool though! Nice work!
lovely shot great sound and power from the egg whisks on that plane
Sehr schön, ich liebe die elegante Bauweise des Fliegers.
Ich wünche Dir Frohe Ostern. :-)
The Metroliner was omega 25 years Agora in Service by RFG in Germany serving Nürnberg-Dortmund and Nürnberg-Bremen by Roland Air.
It was a very familiar way of flying - but quite noisy inside the cabin.
...ago.... etc. sorry for automatic "correction" by smartphone
Great catch, Matthias!
TWIN SPINNING BLADES OF DEATH, lol!! This thing looks and sounds awesome!! Friggin awespme M!!!
Happy Easter for you too =)
nice video, i was just reading about this plane in this months Airliner World. :)
Schönes Close-Up!
excellent video!
That was just some wind, along with releasing the wheel brakes with the prop's rpms cranked up
Great prop video ;)
WOW ~ love it !!!
Great friend!! happy easter!! :D
by the way: it´s a very nice turboprop
Schön ! Ich mag gern der Metro :)
Looks like a nice little plane for the family. Intresting comments below but I have a large family and I'm not worried how comfortable they are, I fly in a Gulfstream.
That's what I would say if I won the billion dollar lottery.... I can barely afford this Samsung G-4 phone that im watching on. I would be thankful and happy with a plastic model of this airplane. She is pretty and I would be happy flying it.
Metroliner AKA Death pencil
Ich mag die Metro sehr! Es ist schade, dass sie kaum noch im Einsatz ist :-/
EXCELENTE AVIÃO AIRPLANE, BRASIL OK
The metroliner looks like a plane I drew in 2nd grade
That plane looked quite flimsy during takeoff!
It's built like a tank. Nothing flimsy about this aircraft.
Jacey Burton - The Merlin Fairchild is quite a tough aircraft. A very fast aircraft as well.
Goste muito
Metro 23? There was a Metro II, and a Metro III. This was a Metro 3.
Improvements beyond the Metro III provided better systems, more power and a further increase in takeoff weight. This design effort resulted in the SA227 CC (for Commuter Category) and SA227-DC models, initially called the Metro IV then renamed Metro 23.
I wonder if this is the one which just crashed and killed all on board?
Very sorry to hear about the crash! It seems to be N577MX.
BinAir has never had any fatal crash, just a few accidents with nose gear collapses in Stuttgart and Dublin for example.
a range of 2700 km not only 1000 km
1300 nm
4 sweringen metro23 supply give me mizoram lunglei farm veng
An extra-ordinary piece of shite. In german it is called "Kackstuhl" (quoting a captain in NFD).
Maybe OK for small cargo or mail loads but sure as hell not suitable for passengers. Payload is limited. Can’t haul passengers and luggage at the same time. One engine performance is really doubtful.
Thanks for this information! I have never been on a Metroliner. But it seems to be a claustrophobic tube. But I still like this plane somehow.
The metro has some good maintenance features, but the nose wheel steering was totally unreliable, an old metro driver told me, you would land and the airplane would decide to take a powder and head for the side of the runway, you could not control it. I flew a factory demonstrator back in the 90s and remember it handled like a sack of shit, on short final had to run the ailerons from stop to stop to keep the plane level, I would have been doing aileron rolls in something like a King Air 200.
When the went from the Metro II to the III, they extended the wing several feet but didn't do anything with the ailerons, if I recall. It is heavy on the controls. The ones I flew had no autopilot or yaw damper. You earned your pay flying that airplane.