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| Model 2000 Starship | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Executive transport |
| Manufacturer | Beechcraft |
| Status | In limited use |
| Number built | 53 |
| History | |
| Manufactured | 1983–1995 |
| First flight | February 15, 1986 |
TheBeechcraft Starship is a twin-turboprop six- to eight-passenger pressurized businessaircraft produced byBeech Aircraft Corporation. Featuring a tandem wing design (not to be confused with canard) and extensive use of carbon-fiber composite, making it the first composite aircraft produced. Production ceased in 1995, with 55 aircraft having been constructed after the Starship's first flight in 1983.
Development of the Starship began in 1979, when Beech decided to explore designs for a successor to itsKing Air line of turboprops that would fly faster and carry more passengers.[1]
On August 25, 1982, Beech contracted withScaled Composites to refine the design and build an 85%-scale, proof-of-concept (POC) aircraft.[1][2] One of the significant changes made to the design by Scaled Composites was the addition of variable geometry to thecanard.[3]
The proof-of-concept prototype first flew in August 1983.[4] This aircraft had no pressurization system, no certified avionics, and a different airframe design and material specifications from the planned production Model 2000. Only one proof of concept was built and it has since been scrapped.[1]
Prototypes were produced even as development work was continuing—a system 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 had an ejection seat. This was the only Starship equipped with conventional electro-mechanical avionics.[5] NC-2 was used for avionics and systems testing, and NC-3 was used for flight-management system and powerplant testing.[4] NC-1 first flew on February 15, 1986.[4]
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.[6] The first production Starship flew on April 25, 1989.[7][8]
The Starship is noteworthy for its unconventionalcarbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) compositeairframe, a small, front-retractable wing that produces lift, lack of centrally located vertical tail, andpusher engine/propeller configuration. The aircraft employs a front=wing variable geometry/variable-sweep surface to counteract the nose-down pitch from extending the flaps and producing lift, making the aircraft "stall proof".[9]
CFRP composite was used to varying degrees on military aircraft, but at the time the Starship was certified, no civilian aircraft certified by the U.S.Federal Aviation Administration had ever used it so extensively. Beech chose this composite for its durability and high strength-to-weight ratio. According to Beech, the Starship weighs less than it would have if it were built from aluminum. Nonetheless, the empty weight of production aircraft exceeded the target by several thousand pounds.[10][11][12]
Beech studied several configurations before settling on a canard configuration in early 1980.[13] As configured, the Starship is difficult to stall; the forward surface stalls before the main lifting surface, which allows the nose to drop and more-normal flight to resume.[14]
A traditionally located vertical tail would have transmitted propeller noise into the airframe.[15] In its place, directional stability and control are provided by rudders mounted on the winglets. Because of this addition, Beechcraft called the winglets "tipsails".[16][17]
Mounting the engines so that the propellers are facing rearward, pushing rather than pulling the aircraft, is done for the purpose of a quieter cabin, since the propellers are further back 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 gases are discharged directly into the propellers, producing more noise where they are than if the propellers had been in a tractor configuration.[citation needed]
Flight instrumentation for the Starship included a 14-tube Proline 4 AMS-850 "glass cockpit" supplied byRockwell Collins, the first application of an all-glass cockpit in a business aircraft.[1]
Beech sold only 11 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.[18]
To stimulate demand, Beech began offering two-year leases on new Starships in 1991.[19] One of the Starships appeared in the opening scenes of theMurder, She Wrote TV series episode "Terminal Connection" 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 theEvergreen Air Center located at thePinal Airpark inArizona for destruction.[citation needed] Beech worked with owners of privately owned Starships to replace their airplanes with other Beech aircraft such as thePremier I jet.[20][21]
In 2004,Raytheon, Beech's parent company, sold off its entire inventory of Starship parts to a Starship owner for a fraction of its retail value.[22]
Several Starships have been donated to museums since the decommissioning program began. TheKansas Aviation Museum received the first donated aircraft, NC-41, in August 2003[28][29] and the Beechcraft Heritage Museum in Tullahoma, Tennessee, received the second donated aircraft, NC-49, in September 2003.[30][31] NC-42 was donated to theMuseum of Flight in Seattle, Washington, and is currently on loan to theFuture of Flight atPaine Field in Everett, Washington.[32] NC-27 was donated toEvergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, in late 2003 and is currently on static display.[33][34] NC-23 is on Airline Row at thePima Air & Space Museum.[35] NC-6 is on display in Liberal, Kansas, at theMid-America Air Museum. Aircraft NC-28 is on display at theQueensland Air Museum,[36] after it was used by the Queensland Institute for Aviation Engineering inCaloundra.[37][38] Aircraft NC-14 is on display outside at theSouthern Museum of Flight.
In 2003, Evergreen Air Center sold eight Starships back to private owners for $50,000 each. Most are being used for parts; however, one of these aircraft has since been made airworthy again.[22] Some former Starship parts have been used on the Epic turboprop kitplane.[39]
As of January 2010[update], nine Starships held an active registration with the FAA. Three Starships were registered in Oklahoma (NC-29, NC-35, and NC-45), one in Texas (NC-50), one in Colorado (NC-51), and four were registered to Beechcraft in Wichita, Kansas (NC-2, NC-8, NC-19, and NC-24).[40] NC-51 was used as achase plane during the re-entry phase ofBurt Rutan'sSpaceShipOne.[41] In October 2008, NC-29 was the first of the five remaining privately owned airworthy Starships to completereduced vertical separation minima certification, returning the aircraft's service ceiling to the originalflight level 410 limit.[42]
Salt Lake Community College used a Starship in their aviation maintenance program until late 2012, when it was sold and scrapped for parts.[43][44]
As of September 2020[update], only six Starships were airworthy. Two Beechcraft Starships (NC-33 and NC-50) were located in Addison, Texas. NC-33 lost its data plate when it was scrapped, and was subsequently registered in Mexico, but when brought back to the US, the FAA revoked its certificate. It is now registered in the experimental category as N903SC.[45] The other airworthy Starships were located in Oklahoma (NC-35 and NC-45), Colorado (NC-51), and Germany (NC-29, though registered with the FAA by a company in Delaware).
Data from Flying Magazine,[10] NC-53 POH,[46]except where noted
General characteristics
Performance
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
