Kenny Meines of Turbine Motor Conversions brought something pretty impressive to AirVenture last year, his own custom Murphy Moose with a Pratt & Whitney PT-6 hanging on the nose. It’s a real backcountry rocket ship, building on Murphy’s solid foundation by kicking things up a notch, or two. Meines said his converted aircraft pulls off 200 mph cruise speeds to the tune of about 25 gallons an hour of Jet A, a stone’s throw away from the fuel burn of the handsome (but slower) M14 radial engine seen on other Mooses.
Thanks to the homegrown nature of the Moose, builders can tailor their aircraft to the mission, whether that means leaving it with a stock 100 gallons in the wings, or grabbing Meines’ new project: A 50-gallon belly tank to add another couple hours of cruise. Of course, like any whiz-bang turboprop installation, it doesn’t come cheap. Meines said there’s a pretty good selection of mid-time PT6-20s out there on the market, which make for a pretty good engine in a private aircraft.
Moose pilots can budget about $250,000 for the conversion and come off unsurprised at the cash register. Meines said the Murphy family is seeing a resurgence, thanks to its off-airport performance and affordable build. If the lookie-loos at AirVenture were any indication, a Murphy is a real head-turner on the flight line, especially when you add a turbine to the front of it!
Aero-TV is a production of the Internationally syndicated Aero-News Network. Seen worldwide by hundreds of thousands of aviators and aviation adherents, ANN's Aero-TV has produced well over 5000 aviation and feature programs, including over 2500 episodes of our daily aviation news program, AIRBORNE UNLIMITED, currently hosted by Holland Lee. Now in its third decade of operation, parent company Aero-News Network, has the most aggressive and intensive editorial profile of any aviation news organization and has published well over a half-million news and feature stories since its inception -- having pioneered the online 24/7 aviation new-media model that so many have emulated.
From 2016 (YouTube Edition): The Canadian Forces Snowbirds Can Best Be Described As ‘Elegant’… EAA AirVenture 2016 was a great show and, in no small part, it was>[...]
Airplane Lunged Forward When It Was Stuck From Behind By A Tug That Was Towing An Unoccupied Airliner Analysis: At the conclusion of the air taxi flight, the flight crew were taxii>[...]
Aero Linx: International Stinson Club So you want to buy a Stinson. Well the Stinson is a GREAT value aircraft. The goal of the International Stinson Club is to preserve informatio>[...]
Request Full Route Clearance Used by pilots to request that the entire route of flight be read verbatim in an ATC clearance. Such request should be made to preclude receiving an AT>[...]
"Today's battlefield is adapting rapidly. By teaching our soldiers to understand how drones work and are built, we are giving them the skills to think creatively and apply emerging>[...]
Classic Aero-TV: Pure Aerial Precision - The Snowbirds at AirVenture 2016
See All