https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Starship
The Beechcraft Starship is a twin-turboprop six- to eight-passenger pressurized
business aircraft produced by Beech Aircraft Corporation (now Beechcraft).
Development of the Starship began in 1979 when Beech decided to explore designs
for a successor to its King Air line of turboprops that would fly faster and
carry more passengers. The design was originated by Beechcraft in January 1980
as Preliminary Design 330 (PD 330).[citation needed] On August 25, 1982, Beech
contracted with Scaled Composites to refine the design and build an 85% scale
proof-of-concept (POC) aircraft. One of the significant changes made to the
design by Scaled Composites was the addition of variable geometry to the canard.
demanded by the use of composite materials, as the tooling required is very
expensive and has to be built for production use from the outset. Beech built
three airworthy full-scale prototypes. NC-1 was used for aerodynamic testing[4]
and was the only Starship equipped with conventional electro-mechanical
avionics. NC-2 was used for avionics and systems testing and NC-3 was used for
flight management system and powerplant testing. NC-1 first flew on February 15,
1986.
The program was delayed several times, at first due to underestimating the
developmental complexity and manufacturing learning curve of the production
composite construction, and later due to the technical difficulties of
correcting a pitch damping problem and developing the stall-warning system. By
the end of development, the Starship had grown larger in cabin volume than the
King Air 350 while having the same gross ramp weight of 15,010 lb (6,808 kg).
Starship development cost $300 million. The first production Starship flew on
April 25, 1989.
A traditionally located vertical tail would have transmitted propeller noise
into the airframe.[14] In its place, directional stability and control is
provided by rudders mounted in the winglets (Beechcraft called them tipsails) at
the tips of the wings.
Mounting the engines so that the propellers are facing rearward, pushing rather
than pulling the aircraft, has the potential of a quieter cabin, since the
propellers are further from the passengers and because vortices from the
propeller tips do not strike the fuselage sides. However, the propellers are
operating in a turbulent airflow in the pusher configuration (due to airflow
past the wings moving aft in vortex sheets) and high-velocity exhaust gasses are
discharged directly into the propellers, thus making them noisier than they
would be in a tractor configuration.
Role
Executive transport
Manufacturer
Beechcraft
Designer
Beechcraft
First flight
February 15, 1986
Status
In limited use
Produced
Number built
53
Unit cost
US$ 3.9 million
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.
However,
Reasons for the lack of demand probably included price, performance, and
economic conditions. The list price in 1989 was $3.9 million, similar to the
Cessna Citation V and Lear 31 jets, which were 89 and 124 knots faster than the
Starship at maximum cruise, respectively. The Piper Cheyenne turboprop was
faster and sold for $1 million less.
In an effort to stimulate demand, Beech began offering two-year leases on new
Starships in 1991.
The last Starship, NC-53, was produced in 1995. In 2003 Beechcraft said that
supporting such a small fleet of airplanes was cost-prohibitive and began
scrapping and incinerating the aircraft under its control. The aircraft were
sent to the Evergreen Air Center located at the Pinal Airpark in Arizona for
destruction (No Starships visible as of November 7, 2015 Google Earth scan;
aircraft assumed destroyed). A number of these aircraft (4 as of November 7,
2015, per Google Earth) are currently in storage at Marana Regional Airport
(KAVQ) 8 NM southeast of Pinal Airpark. Beech worked with owners of privately
owned Starships to replace their airplanes with other Beech aircraft such as the
Premier I jet.
In 2004 Raytheon sold off its entire inventory of Starship parts to a Starship
owner for a fraction of its retail value.
Specifications (2000A)
General characteristics
Crew: 1 or 2
Capacity: 6
Length: 46.1 ft (14.1 m)
Wingspan: 54.475 ft (16.604 m)
Height: 12.11 ft (3.69 m)
Wing area: 281 sq ft (26.1 m2)
Empty weight: 10,085 lb (4,574 kg) standard empty weight
Gross weight: 15,010 lb (6,808 kg) max ramp weight
Max takeoff weight: 14,900 lb (6,759 kg)
Fuel capacity: 565 gallons, or 3785 lbs.[44]
each
Propellers: 5-bladed McCauley, 8 ft 8 in (2.64 m) diameter
Performance
Maximum speed: 385 mph (620 km/h; 335 kn)
Cruise speed: 353 mph (568 km/h; 307 kn)
Stall speed: 112 mph; 180 km/h (97 kn) max weight with flaps retracted & idle
power[44]
Minimum control speed: 108 mph; 174 km/h (94 kn) flaps retracted[44]
Range: 1,742 mi (1,514 nmi; 2,803 km)
Service ceiling: 35,800 ft (10,900 m)
Rate of climb: 2,748 ft/min (13.96 m/s)
Wing loading: 53 lb/sq ft (260 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 6.2 lb/shp
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