I recall in the 90s driving towards Davenport, IA on US 61. I saw an odd looking airplane...it was going to land at the small airport that Davenport has so I had to check it out....one other guy was doing the same thing...I heard that the gov bunch that certifies practically had the plane built on old fashion specs. that of course killed the advantage, they only built about 25 of them...
LifesJoys-yes, great upload and the pics are cool, BUT, what about the downside to this airplane? I understand it is noisier, harsher ride and has much higher operating costs (with only 53 built I realize there will be "orphan" surcharges for such a rare craft). Can you reply with some of "the rest of the story" of this stunning piece of technolgy and corporate nerve? thanks
Nice touch using the theme song of a television series regarding another starship. I loved this plane. Too bad it never took on more customers and the premature cutoff from any real good production.
its too bad it never caught on...probably cause it was unreliable, unstable and $200,000,000 Beechcraft lost a whack of money due to it, what a bonehead move beechcraft, should have, like most ideas in aviation world, stayed a concept
It was none of the above as you describe. You don't know what you're talking about. Beech sold only eleven Starships in the three years following its certification. Beech attributed the slow sales to the economic slowdown in the late-1980s, the novelty of the Starship, and the tax on luxury items that was in effect in the United States at the time. In an effort to stimulate demand, Beech began offering two-year leases on new Starships in 1991. Support was cost prohibitive.
Be that as it may, you didn't design this aircraft and it still didn't have the issues you state. I stand by my original statement. Look up the history on it. I'm 35 years in the aircraft industry as well. I've met Burt Rutan and spoken to him personally about it. The pilots that flew them said they flew wonderfully. The remaining aircraft flying are very well liked by their owners. The people at Hawker Beech are boneheaded either. They are on of my largest customers.
Correction the engineers at Hawker Beech are NOT boneheaded. I work with them directly. The Starship was not an unreliable aircraft, nor was it unstable. I question your engineering expertise. The Lear 45 is unreliable and IS a Bombardier aircraft. It took a Beech engineer to work the bugs out of it. I know him personally as well.
@HabuBeemer ok i dont know who ur talking about, but if your talking about Rutan, well then bull shit anyone can say that, i could say i already took a ride on the Rutan's Original or beoing 797...doesnt mean its true
By your logic I guess anyone can say they are an "aerospace engineer". Hope your design skills are better than your spelling and grammar. Good luck with that. No aircraft manufacturer is going to go into production on an aircraft that has the flaws you mention. And since 53 were made I'd have to believe Beech did their homework up front. Otherwise they wouldn't have survived the industry since 1932 to become an industry leader of turbine cabin class aircraft. You think? Duh!
Was doing my multi checkride today at RVS and saw one take the active as I was taxiing back to the ramp. Coolest looking airplane Ive ever seen. (BTW, I passed my checkride :-D)
Great video tribute - on rare occasion when one of these great planes flies overhead here in southeastern lower Michigan, you know immediately what it is. Way ahead of its time. What music sound track is that?
How is this aircraft way ahead of its time? Are you referring to the pusher configuration? That has been around since the very first aircraft basically. Same goes for the canard this aircraft uses, the VERY FIRST aircraft to ever fly or at least to be recorded used the same thing as this airplane. In your mind it is just advance because what, it looks like a "space ship"? But yea it is sad that peopl are so closed minded to pusher config, it scares them away.
@ejmac11 The Starship was the first business aircraft with an all-glass digital cockpit.. it was the first civilian aircraft with a pressurized carbon-fiber fuselage to be certificated by the Federal Aviation Administration, the first modern U.S.-built production civil aircraft with a forward wing or canard, the first without a tail, and one of the first passenger turboprops with pusher propellers (Piaggio was the other).
of course it was axed, it has no tail! Must be hard to control! Plus the twin rear propellors seem very antiquated in this type of design, at the very least it should have jet engines!
@nighthawk0077 I don't even know where to begin with your comment. I am no expert, but if you know ABSOLUTELY nothing about aircraft, why would you even comment?
This aircraft uses what is known as a canard configuration where the the control comes from the" wings" in the front, this configuration can be just as or even more maneuverable than a traditional configuration.
As far as the comment about the jet engines, whaaat? like seriously I don't even know what the fuck to say to that.
@hotelgulf718 you are very welcomed maybe someone some day will have The vision and resources to bring it back and make it readily available for the public
@hotelgulf718 that thing fly`s over my place on it`s way to oakland airport .makes a sound like toy plane.do not have to see it to know on it`s way to OAK .fly`s by at arond 3:00 pm one`s aday.nice thing to look up a
@1486luana To the Best Of my Knowledge no ,its so unfourtunate that there are no groups I have a friend Here atlantisaviation keeps tabs on the aircraft as well as Burt Ruttan thats all I know Sorry I could not have been any more help.
Yes, Robert Sherer in Aspen, Colorado bought the remaining spares for these aircraft from Beechcraft. There are 5 airplanes still flying; Robert's in Colorado, 3 in Oklahoma, and 1 in Washington State. It remains to be seen if someone will take up production at some point. Piaggio has a similar aircraft that is very successful and proves the original concept of the Starship.
Somewhere a few years ago I thought I had read that the Starship was doomed by it's FAA mandated weight increae due to cert. in a different category than planned. True?
Unfortunately I will never own a plane, much less one of these beauties. I first saw it at Salt lake Community College's airplane service garage. It was in poor shape, one wing dissected, canards removed, half its cabin gone. But i fell in love with it
LOVE these. im gonna own one, ive decided. the last picture is the background on my phone right now. also love the use of the star trek: voyager theme!
There is one sitting in Caloundra Airport, Australia, (YCDR) if you want to get serious... No engines, but that's the least of your worries with these I suspect.
On my 33rd Bday in 1995, they had one of these at the Des Moines Airport show and my mother-in-law was the secretary for Elliot's Flying Service....Kegs were in the hangar and "keep out" cones were all around the Starship, but "I" got to go on board and there were decanters of Scotch, Vodka and Bourbon. I nailed down a double shot of single malt and was quickly "discovered" and told to get out, LMAO!!!!!!! My best BDAY!!!!
@deagle94 The Starship cost about twice the cost of a conventionally built aluminum 'tube with wing" design and offer less (or "less") performance. Carbon fiber, kevlar, "glass" cockpit (computerized instrument panels) added to that cost. It was too far ahead of it's time.
IF I had the money, I would own one of these REGARDLESS of the cost!
First time I ever saw a Starship, she was flying over Cape Coral FL. Couldn't believe how beautiful and unique it was. Didn't find out WHAT it was until over a year later on the Discovery Channel.
And I am a Pilot as well as a current builder of my own, a Rutan design. I want to say that how Corporate destroyed the Model 115 in front of everyone at Mohave was totally out of line. If you didn't want Starship then sell out to those that do want her. Legally it could be an option and morally as well as for Corporate image, it is the best option. You could still do the right thing with those that are left, for nothing else than as a last tribute to Olive Ann and us who built Starship 1.
I was in Dept 123 at Beech up to the point of Starship NC-4, first production. Onesick77 mentions the difficulty in building her and of that there is NO doubt. I am STILL deeply proud of her, even though we knew she was hell on Earth to build. I still have my heart and soul in Starship as it was from the first time I set eyes on her, and I will always. Did Walter ever reject Staggerwing? No!Shame on you Raytheon! You who own I deeply respect. You honor us as no others could!!!
Reminicent of the Piaggio but with that classic beech / lear feel. An interesting approach to a radical view of aircraft. Planes like this sow the seed for a future of airplanes we can yet not imagine.
Glad to oblige you. The Starship has a max cruise speed of 335kts or 385mph, it has a MAXIMUM CERTIFIED ALT OF 41,000 ft, it has a max cruise range (at 35,000 ft) of 1,576 nm or 1,814 sm. It carries about 565 Gal of fuel. When Beechcraft/Raytheon sold this AMAZING AIRCRAFT it was priced @ $5,000,000.
Such a tragedy that the economics of the time caused the production to cease after only selling about 50-60 aircraft. I hope this helps you out. Thanks for your interest in the Starship
oh ok i work for beechcraft and let me tell ya something that starship was so thick and the starship was heavy. hell they only made 50 for sale and 3 proto types, they got rid of those cause they were problems from the day they were first getting built.
oh ok when i say had problems i'm talking on the shop floor and oh also for the fact is that yeah they had problems after they, Beechcraft, sold em out. just cause you bought one don't mean your sweat, tears and blood went into seeing how they had problems. like this with the strike over it still stands strong on the saying "We Build Not You"
I heard that only 5 starships are still flying. Is this true? I've seen these on three different occasions. I recently saw one fly over my house. Are there any planes similar to this one because it seems unlikely that I've seen these so often yet it's next to impossible to find one.
this is one of the coolest planes i have ever seen. i saw one fly over sioux city once at a really high altitude possibly 10 or 20,000 ft i could just barely make out the outline of it that high up.
It truly is the Coolest and Most Beautiful plane I am actually working on trying to buy 1they r rare to find most owners love them so much. Thanx For The Comment
Very nice video tribute to a fine airplane. I had the good fortune and blessing to Captain many over a 9 year period from 1995 to 2004. There is nice companion book out called the "Starship Diaries" by Dallas Kachan. Dallas and I worked together putting this little fictional novel together for Starship fans.
Captain Wayne Roberts
Starship NC-18, NC-28, NC-29, NC-41, NC-42, and NC 53.
you are very welcomed someday I might find one and sweet talk the owner for a flight that truly would be a DREAM COME TRUE For me LOL.Ty for viewing my dedication to a remarkable airplane
I couldn't agree more with you -- of course, I am prejudiced as I am the current manager and operator of NC-29. She still has her same N # and just got a new paint job. She still flies incredibly well, and we expect it to for some time to come.
We're currently seeking engines for our other Starship, NC-43, back in the air -- then there will be 6!
-53 is owned by a doc in Texas and is attempting to rebuild and put her in the air.
Was reading in AirSpace mag last year or year befor and Beech Rayethon is supposed to be running around buying them all up and scrapping them... Any one shed any light on this one???
You are Correct in that view They were in Fact doing just that but a few handfull of owners said no, Burt Rutan, Robert Scherer and Dallas Kachan to name a few,refuse to sell. There are even those owners that bought most of the spare parts to keep for future repairs. Thanx For The interest
Crying shame that they were doing that. Did they give any reasons for their actions? Seems a very strange thing to do. Too hard to provide further technical support or were they finding things wrong within the design itself? Beech traditionally make good strong aircraft but I was wondering that this being their first foray into composites that they found something.
Actually the aircraft was as sound as they come, the composite material was the lightest and strongest ever designed,even by todays standards. Unfortunately, Raytheon priced the Starship at almost $5,000,000, this was way more expensive than the King Air that the Starship was intended to replace and was virtually the same price as an introductory jet at that time. 3.5 to 4 million dollars would have been a more realistic price point for the Starship.
I am curently training to be an engineer and we work on one of these at caloundra airport. sorry to say it will never fly again but it always looks like it wants to.
Sooo pretty...
AtholAnderson 3 months ago
I recall in the 90s driving towards Davenport, IA on US 61. I saw an odd looking airplane...it was going to land at the small airport that Davenport has so I had to check it out....one other guy was doing the same thing...I heard that the gov bunch that certifies practically had the plane built on old fashion specs. that of course killed the advantage, they only built about 25 of them...
granskare 4 months ago
you never seen piaggio p180 AVANTI II
antocaliendo 4 months ago
@antocaliendo Yes and it's an ugly airplane in comparison. It's disproportionate and looks like someone tried to make a cheap copy of the Starship.
Teladian2 1 week ago
Another Rutan design that didnt last. Maybe thats why all of his designs are made of plastic.
Michael4yah 4 months ago
Just saw TWO take off from Ft. Pierce Florida airport a few months ago.
I believe that Evergreen Air keeps a fleet of them for spare parts.
Rocketryman 4 months ago
ok uuf chulada
comander402 6 months ago
As I understand it Beech bought all of them back, and destroyed them.
bokuda42 6 months ago
LifesJoys-yes, great upload and the pics are cool, BUT, what about the downside to this airplane? I understand it is noisier, harsher ride and has much higher operating costs (with only 53 built I realize there will be "orphan" surcharges for such a rare craft). Can you reply with some of "the rest of the story" of this stunning piece of technolgy and corporate nerve? thanks
helios1912 6 months ago
Nice touch using the theme song of a television series regarding another starship. I loved this plane. Too bad it never took on more customers and the premature cutoff from any real good production.
KJOSCOT 7 months ago
its too bad it never caught on...probably cause it was unreliable, unstable and $200,000,000 Beechcraft lost a whack of money due to it, what a bonehead move beechcraft, should have, like most ideas in aviation world, stayed a concept
uar99 8 months ago
@uar99
It was none of the above as you describe. You don't know what you're talking about. Beech sold only eleven Starships in the three years following its certification. Beech attributed the slow sales to the economic slowdown in the late-1980s, the novelty of the Starship, and the tax on luxury items that was in effect in the United States at the time. In an effort to stimulate demand, Beech began offering two-year leases on new Starships in 1991. Support was cost prohibitive.
HabuBeemer 6 months ago
@HabuBeemer i know what im talking about im an aerospace engineer for bombardier...i know everything about aircraft and aircraft history
uar99 6 months ago
@uar99
Be that as it may, you didn't design this aircraft and it still didn't have the issues you state. I stand by my original statement. Look up the history on it. I'm 35 years in the aircraft industry as well. I've met Burt Rutan and spoken to him personally about it. The pilots that flew them said they flew wonderfully. The remaining aircraft flying are very well liked by their owners. The people at Hawker Beech are boneheaded either. They are on of my largest customers.
HabuBeemer 6 months ago
@uar99
Correction the engineers at Hawker Beech are NOT boneheaded. I work with them directly. The Starship was not an unreliable aircraft, nor was it unstable. I question your engineering expertise. The Lear 45 is unreliable and IS a Bombardier aircraft. It took a Beech engineer to work the bugs out of it. I know him personally as well.
HabuBeemer 6 months ago
@HabuBeemer ok i dont know who ur talking about, but if your talking about Rutan, well then bull shit anyone can say that, i could say i already took a ride on the Rutan's Original or beoing 797...doesnt mean its true
uar99 6 months ago
@uar99
By your logic I guess anyone can say they are an "aerospace engineer". Hope your design skills are better than your spelling and grammar. Good luck with that. No aircraft manufacturer is going to go into production on an aircraft that has the flaws you mention. And since 53 were made I'd have to believe Beech did their homework up front. Otherwise they wouldn't have survived the industry since 1932 to become an industry leader of turbine cabin class aircraft. You think? Duh!
HabuBeemer 6 months ago
like the piaggo avanti....so beautifull!
XOROHN 8 months ago
Was doing my multi checkride today at RVS and saw one take the active as I was taxiing back to the ramp. Coolest looking airplane Ive ever seen. (BTW, I passed my checkride :-D)
emtpilot132 10 months ago
looks like a dc-9 with haemorrhoids .... hardly compares to 'Voyager' , an intergalactic fortress
slh950 11 months ago
An upscaled Berkut?
hrc1966 11 months ago
Great video tribute - on rare occasion when one of these great planes flies overhead here in southeastern lower Michigan, you know immediately what it is. Way ahead of its time. What music sound track is that?
mfilarecki 1 year ago
I have no idea why the canard design didn't take off it's virtually impossible to stall like conventional aircraft
crazygood150 1 year ago
How is this aircraft way ahead of its time? Are you referring to the pusher configuration? That has been around since the very first aircraft basically. Same goes for the canard this aircraft uses, the VERY FIRST aircraft to ever fly or at least to be recorded used the same thing as this airplane. In your mind it is just advance because what, it looks like a "space ship"? But yea it is sad that peopl are so closed minded to pusher config, it scares them away.
ejmac11 1 year ago
@ejmac11 The Starship was the first business aircraft with an all-glass digital cockpit.. it was the first civilian aircraft with a pressurized carbon-fiber fuselage to be certificated by the Federal Aviation Administration, the first modern U.S.-built production civil aircraft with a forward wing or canard, the first without a tail, and one of the first passenger turboprops with pusher propellers (Piaggio was the other).
coldfarted 1 year ago
slow, hard to fly even harder to maintain and cost a good $300 million to develop.... wasn't looking too promising from the start.
mrnicpie 1 year ago
of course it was axed, it has no tail! Must be hard to control! Plus the twin rear propellors seem very antiquated in this type of design, at the very least it should have jet engines!
nighthawk0077 1 year ago
@nighthawk0077 I don't even know where to begin with your comment. I am no expert, but if you know ABSOLUTELY nothing about aircraft, why would you even comment?
This aircraft uses what is known as a canard configuration where the the control comes from the" wings" in the front, this configuration can be just as or even more maneuverable than a traditional configuration.
As far as the comment about the jet engines, whaaat? like seriously I don't even know what the fuck to say to that.
ejmac11 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Best place to find Asian women **busizz4me.info**
AylaShannika 1 year ago
at only 5 million usd they said it was not viable...
fatony26 1 year ago
im guessing those are Turbo-prop's?
anyone know?
Zoidborg1 1 year ago
@Zoidborg1 Yip, that's the efficiency of 2 pusher-prop type Turboprobs. you can see the intakes on the front part of the engine itself.
kylemontanaro 1 year ago
Reminds my a lot of that Italian twin turbo pusher prop, can't remember the name for the life of me.
Stinklikeabee 1 year ago
@Stinklikeabee The Piaggio P-180
Ryten182 1 year ago
A plane ahead of it's time like so many who gone before. Beautiful,and graceful
on the ground,and in flight. Such power,and sound to the ear. Thanks for posting
from yesteryear.
Psyche777able 1 year ago
I agree!
XPGlowWorm 1 year ago
My Opinion beautiful-----!!!!!!!
putzzelbier 1 year ago
whats the song?
kneehowmaSTUDIOS 1 year ago
What a beautiful aircraft. Way ahead of it's time and stupidly axed by the visionless.
Thanks for the pics~!
hotelgulf718 1 year ago 4
@hotelgulf718 you are very welcomed maybe someone some day will have The vision and resources to bring it back and make it readily available for the public
LifesJoys 1 year ago 2
@LifesJoys like Piaggio Avanti
MySchizoBuddy 5 days ago
@hotelgulf718 that thing fly`s over my place on it`s way to oakland airport .makes a sound like toy plane.do not have to see it to know on it`s way to OAK .fly`s by at arond 3:00 pm one`s aday.nice thing to look up a
motosanhey 7 months ago
are there any groups started up to help save the remaining aircraft?
1486luana 1 year ago
@1486luana To the Best Of my Knowledge no ,its so unfourtunate that there are no groups I have a friend Here atlantisaviation keeps tabs on the aircraft as well as Burt Ruttan thats all I know Sorry I could not have been any more help.
LifesJoys 1 year ago
@1486luana
Yes, Robert Sherer in Aspen, Colorado bought the remaining spares for these aircraft from Beechcraft. There are 5 airplanes still flying; Robert's in Colorado, 3 in Oklahoma, and 1 in Washington State. It remains to be seen if someone will take up production at some point. Piaggio has a similar aircraft that is very successful and proves the original concept of the Starship.
HabuBeemer 6 months ago
This gorgeous aircraft met its demise due to our inept FAA.
carlosmurphy4u 1 year ago
To bad Beechcraft doesn't build these anymore, there are only five airplanes left flying today!
physicist321 1 year ago
Somewhere a few years ago I thought I had read that the Starship was doomed by it's FAA mandated weight increae due to cert. in a different category than planned. True?
dave0mary 1 year ago
Kingonlwt, how do you download it to you phone? I think this bird is so hot.....
TamakoAkai 1 year ago
fucking awsome!
posro1988 1 year ago
i agree
FLIGHTSIMEXTREME 1 year ago
Beautiful aircraft.... should have one at Smithsonian, or Wright-Patterson....
xzqzq 2 years ago
Unfortunately I will never own a plane, much less one of these beauties. I first saw it at Salt lake Community College's airplane service garage. It was in poor shape, one wing dissected, canards removed, half its cabin gone. But i fell in love with it
jfracch 2 years ago
LOVE these. im gonna own one, ive decided. the last picture is the background on my phone right now. also love the use of the star trek: voyager theme!
kingdonlwt 2 years ago
I thank you for your kind comment .I am happy you enjoyed my dedication to a wonderful aircraft
LifesJoys 2 years ago
@kingdonlwt unlikly they are all mothballed except one.
datzfast 1 year ago
@datzfast well then i'll buy that one. duh.
kingdonlwt 1 year ago
@kingdonlwt unlikly
datzfast 1 year ago
@datzfast can always commission hawker beechcraft to build a one-off. or buy the company and bring it back into production
kingdonlwt 1 year ago
@kingdonlwt do it get me one also, ill be your friend for life
datzfast 1 year ago
@datzfast ok deal, im just calling them now
kingdonlwt 1 year ago
@kingdonlwt
There is one sitting in Caloundra Airport, Australia, (YCDR) if you want to get serious... No engines, but that's the least of your worries with these I suspect.
KingOfBanks 1 year ago
On my 33rd Bday in 1995, they had one of these at the Des Moines Airport show and my mother-in-law was the secretary for Elliot's Flying Service....Kegs were in the hangar and "keep out" cones were all around the Starship, but "I" got to go on board and there were decanters of Scotch, Vodka and Bourbon. I nailed down a double shot of single malt and was quickly "discovered" and told to get out, LMAO!!!!!!! My best BDAY!!!!
camomule 2 years ago
that plane was in the german drawing boards in 1942!! xD Look at the Henschel Hs P.87!
mihaelmartinovic 2 years ago
I want one
sigair 2 years ago 3
An amazing aircraft !
It will be missed by all who know what a great plane it was.
No thanks to Raytheon.
mstaff657 2 years ago
why,,is this plane out of duty?
deagle94 2 years ago
Beechcraft - Raytheon
bought all most all of the planes back
in order to loose the liability (I Guess)
There was only about 58 built originally
now only about 5 exist.
It was truly a work of art.
mstaff657 2 years ago
thats sad,,becouse this plane looks really nice and unuiq,
deagle94 2 years ago
@deagle94 The Starship cost about twice the cost of a conventionally built aluminum 'tube with wing" design and offer less (or "less") performance. Carbon fiber, kevlar, "glass" cockpit (computerized instrument panels) added to that cost. It was too far ahead of it's time.
IF I had the money, I would own one of these REGARDLESS of the cost!
kwanyx 1 year ago
First time I ever saw a Starship, she was flying over Cape Coral FL. Couldn't believe how beautiful and unique it was. Didn't find out WHAT it was until over a year later on the Discovery Channel.
Gulfstorm75 2 years ago
i am grateful everyday that beech took the hints to stick with the king air
stormthorgerson 2 years ago
And I am a Pilot as well as a current builder of my own, a Rutan design. I want to say that how Corporate destroyed the Model 115 in front of everyone at Mohave was totally out of line. If you didn't want Starship then sell out to those that do want her. Legally it could be an option and morally as well as for Corporate image, it is the best option. You could still do the right thing with those that are left, for nothing else than as a last tribute to Olive Ann and us who built Starship 1.
Goldenhands57 2 years ago
I was in Dept 123 at Beech up to the point of Starship NC-4, first production. Onesick77 mentions the difficulty in building her and of that there is NO doubt. I am STILL deeply proud of her, even though we knew she was hell on Earth to build. I still have my heart and soul in Starship as it was from the first time I set eyes on her, and I will always. Did Walter ever reject Staggerwing? No!Shame on you Raytheon! You who own I deeply respect. You honor us as no others could!!!
Goldenhands57 2 years ago
Reminicent of the Piaggio but with that classic beech / lear feel. An interesting approach to a radical view of aircraft. Planes like this sow the seed for a future of airplanes we can yet not imagine.
rcacad 3 years ago
No thanks to Raytheon who killed this bird!
Bastards.
Controlledfall 3 years ago 6
@Controlledfall whatever you do, don't blame Beechcraft! Raytheon does not know how to run an aviation company
cuby1 1 year ago
@Controlledfall I believe the FAA did that. 5 year certification program.
raptors222222 1 year ago
wow !!!thnax for the info like you state THIS AIRCRAFT IS AMAZING
stealhty1 3 years ago
You are very welcomed
LifesJoys 3 years ago
please someone tell us about performance :how fast how,high,how long ?????? prices????
stealhty1 3 years ago
Glad to oblige you. The Starship has a max cruise speed of 335kts or 385mph, it has a MAXIMUM CERTIFIED ALT OF 41,000 ft, it has a max cruise range (at 35,000 ft) of 1,576 nm or 1,814 sm. It carries about 565 Gal of fuel. When Beechcraft/Raytheon sold this AMAZING AIRCRAFT it was priced @ $5,000,000.
Such a tragedy that the economics of the time caused the production to cease after only selling about 50-60 aircraft. I hope this helps you out. Thanks for your interest in the Starship
LifesJoys 3 years ago
Way ahead of its time! Too far ahead apparently, so nobody bought it. A shame!
georger64 3 years ago
oh ok i work for beechcraft and let me tell ya something that starship was so thick and the starship was heavy. hell they only made 50 for sale and 3 proto types, they got rid of those cause they were problems from the day they were first getting built.
onesick77 3 years ago
Wow -- somebody forgot to tell NC-29, our Starship, that it was supposed to have all kinds of problems. Ah well...
atlantisaviation 3 years ago
oh ok when i say had problems i'm talking on the shop floor and oh also for the fact is that yeah they had problems after they, Beechcraft, sold em out. just cause you bought one don't mean your sweat, tears and blood went into seeing how they had problems. like this with the strike over it still stands strong on the saying "We Build Not You"
onesick77 3 years ago
from an aeronautic viewpoint, pusher turbo props make more sense as far as lower drag.
escueladeleyi 3 years ago
beautiful...
rlois 3 years ago
I heard that only 5 starships are still flying. Is this true? I've seen these on three different occasions. I recently saw one fly over my house. Are there any planes similar to this one because it seems unlikely that I've seen these so often yet it's next to impossible to find one.
TheOnlineCommunity 3 years ago
Sick plane but only 50 were made so its next to impossible to find one.
JBattaile 3 years ago
this is one of the coolest planes i have ever seen. i saw one fly over sioux city once at a really high altitude possibly 10 or 20,000 ft i could just barely make out the outline of it that high up.
gtafan2006 3 years ago
It truly is the Coolest and Most Beautiful plane I am actually working on trying to buy 1they r rare to find most owners love them so much. Thanx For The Comment
LifesJoys 3 years ago
Very nice video tribute to a fine airplane. I had the good fortune and blessing to Captain many over a 9 year period from 1995 to 2004. There is nice companion book out called the "Starship Diaries" by Dallas Kachan. Dallas and I worked together putting this little fictional novel together for Starship fans.
Captain Wayne Roberts
Starship NC-18, NC-28, NC-29, NC-41, NC-42, and NC 53.
wayneroberts53 3 years ago
You can not Imagine the honor I feel from hearing from One of the Pilots of this awesome and beautiful,beautiful airplane
Thank You from the bottom of my heart Captain Roberts, truly an Honor
LifesJoys 3 years ago
It is my honor to be in such good company as yourself and to know that there are some wonderful people out there......
Your friend,
Wayne Roberts
wayneroberts53 3 years ago
Thanks for posting your tribute -- excellent!
atlantisaviation 3 years ago 2
you are very welcomed someday I might find one and sweet talk the owner for a flight that truly would be a DREAM COME TRUE For me LOL.Ty for viewing my dedication to a remarkable airplane
LifesJoys 3 years ago
Hi Wayne,
I couldn't agree more with you -- of course, I am prejudiced as I am the current manager and operator of NC-29. She still has her same N # and just got a new paint job. She still flies incredibly well, and we expect it to for some time to come.
We're currently seeking engines for our other Starship, NC-43, back in the air -- then there will be 6!
-53 is owned by a doc in Texas and is attempting to rebuild and put her in the air.
atlantisaviation 3 years ago 2
Was reading in AirSpace mag last year or year befor and Beech Rayethon is supposed to be running around buying them all up and scrapping them... Any one shed any light on this one???
bluedog1976 4 years ago
You are Correct in that view They were in Fact doing just that but a few handfull of owners said no, Burt Rutan, Robert Scherer and Dallas Kachan to name a few,refuse to sell. There are even those owners that bought most of the spare parts to keep for future repairs. Thanx For The interest
LifesJoys 4 years ago
Crying shame that they were doing that. Did they give any reasons for their actions? Seems a very strange thing to do. Too hard to provide further technical support or were they finding things wrong within the design itself? Beech traditionally make good strong aircraft but I was wondering that this being their first foray into composites that they found something.
bluedog1976 4 years ago
Actually the aircraft was as sound as they come, the composite material was the lightest and strongest ever designed,even by todays standards. Unfortunately, Raytheon priced the Starship at almost $5,000,000, this was way more expensive than the King Air that the Starship was intended to replace and was virtually the same price as an introductory jet at that time. 3.5 to 4 million dollars would have been a more realistic price point for the Starship.
LifesJoys 4 years ago
The issue regarding the Starship was not really quality related, as has been suggested in the past.
LifeJoys summed it up very well.
Outlaw1257 3 years ago
Thank You for the comment
LifesJoys 3 years ago
That it does maybe someday who knows Thanks for the Comment
LifesJoys 4 years ago
I am curently training to be an engineer and we work on one of these at caloundra airport. sorry to say it will never fly again but it always looks like it wants to.
GHITON 4 years ago
This plane was a rare dream unrealised. Lovely musical score, what is it?
noobie112 4 years ago
That It was, thanks for The comment the music score is From Star Trek "Voyager" I thought it appropriate for such futuristic desgin, thanks again
LifesJoys 4 years ago