Beech Starship 2000
8/17/09
By: Fastmover
.First taking flight on February 15, 1986, the Beechcraft Starship 2000A is arguably the most unique and unusual business aircraft ever built. Development on the Starship began in 1979 when Beechcraft decided to pursue a next generation replacement for its own King Air 200 twin turboprop. However, actual progress was halted until 1982 as Beechcraft was in the process of being bought by Raytheon. Once this delay was overcome, Beechcraft forged ahead with their revolutionary canard design and eventually enlisted the help of legendary aircraft designer Burt Rutan, who brought much previous experience with aircraft of this type.
Initial development in fact began at Rutan's Scaled Composites and yielded the Beechcraft Model 115, the prototype and precursor to the final Model 2000. The 115 was an 85% scale model of the final aircraft, although lacking many systems of its larger sibling and was eventually scrapped after development concluded. The final model featured a canard design with twin pusher turboprops and vertical control surfaces attached at the wingtips. The canards themselves were of variable geometry, although this was later deemed unnecessary but was not removed as it was already too far into the production stage. Stalling or spinning the Starship is extremely difficult if not impossible due to the canard design which allows the nose to fall in an imminent stall and regain airspeed. The Starship was also notable for having a very advanced set of avionics at the time of development.
Unfortunately, the Starship attracted little demand, with only 53 airframes being produced before production was halted. A few were sold to private owners while the majority were subsequently leased out by Raytheon, who eventually recalled all airframes after determining the cost of supporting such a small fleet. Most of the recalled frames have since been broken up and incinerated at Pinal Airpark near Tucson, Arizona. Only 10 examples still remain in existence with 6 of those still flyable although a sixth may potentially be certified in the near future. One owner even purchased several of the broken up frames for use as spare parts. Some reasons for the Starship's failure included its relatively high price compared to competing jet-powered Lear and Citation models which featured the same capacity while cruising at much higher speeds. Poor economic conditions at the time also helped to bring the Starship's downfall. The Starship was also criticized by some pilots for its tendency to raise and lower its nose in level flight, a condition called phugoid tendency where the aircraft wanders instead of maintaining proper altitude.
General characteristics: (taken from Beechcraft Starship 2000A Performance, Specifications & Equipment)
* Crew: one or two pilots
* Capacity: 8 passengers
* Length: 46 ft 1 in (14.05 m)
* Wingspan: 54 ft 4.7 in (16.58 m)
* Height: 12 ft 11 in (3.94 m)
* Wing area: 280.88 ft² (26.1 m²)
* Empty weight: 10,120 lb (4,590 kg)
* Loaded weight: 15,010 lb (6,823 kg)
* Max takeoff weight: 14,900 lb (6,760 kg)
* Powerplant: 2× Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67A Turbo-props, 1,200 shp (895 kW) each
* Propellers: 5-bladed McCauley propeller
Performance:
* Maximum speed: 335 knots .60 mach (385 mph, 620 km/h)
* Stall speed: Un-stallable (Un-spinable)
* Range: 1,576 nm (1,814 mi, 2,920 km)
* Service ceiling: 41,000 ft (12,500 m)
* Rate of climb: 2,748 ft/min (13.96 m/s)
* Wing loading: 53.0 lb/ft² (258.77 kg/m²)
* Power/mass: 6.21 lb/shp (3.78 kg/kW)