SoonerAv8r
Well-Known Member
They sold the PC-12 some time ago before they added...I'm wanting to say the Premier...but don't quote me on that....
Saw a Starship Today!!
- Thread starter Falcon262
- Start date
They sold the PC-12 some time ago before they added...I'm wanting to say the Premier...but don't quote me on that....
jwp_145
GhostRider in the Sky
I know who Jim is. You have probably seen me cleaning EAS's King Airs around there. And yeah it is a premier, 530pt.
My name's Joseph. I dind't know there was a PC12 based there... is it kept down in AvFuel?
jwp_145
GhostRider in the Sky
SoonerAv8r
Well-Known Member
Yea we've met...I'm Doug. Our PC is kept in the new hangar along with the starship. It's just been gone to Mx in KC for a couple of weeks. Formerly it was 47NG when we get it back next week it will be 77SD.
Bandit_Driver
Gold Member
I thought they'd all got bought up by Beech and scrapped - how is this one still flying? Who owns it?)
Alex.
Beech did try to buy them all back because they didn't want to suppor them anymore. Anyone then chose not to sell them back were on their own for parts. I hear the actuators for the front canards are a very highend item and hard to find and I don't know if any is making them.
I too love that plane. It looks a lot better than the smaller Piagio...
Cessnaflyer
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Yep all fiction
I love this plane as well.
Atleast the people got a free King Air if they traded in the starship.
granlistillo
Well-Known Member
I had to drop out of college for a semester back about 20 years ago to earn money after losing an academic scholarship due to goofing off and flying cessna 150s instead of really hitting the books. Got a job at Beech as a final assembler on the first 15 or 20 Starships. I remember it was very interesting as the tooling and jigs for placing components was really lacking. I remember using a tape measure to locate parts. Really was a matter of measure twice (if not thrice) and cut or drill once. The plane was really heavy and just the failsafe fastners at all critical bondjoints added a lot of weight to the plane. I remember having qa really making us remove all excess epoxy from bonds to save weight. In the aggregate the glue alone was alot.
Having to work on an assembly line for 6 months reoriented my work ethic and study habits and it was back to school and off to the Navy for me. Great plane, would have mixed feelings about flying on one. Kinda like seeing sausage made. I kid...
Having to work on an assembly line for 6 months reoriented my work ethic and study habits and it was back to school and off to the Navy for me. Great plane, would have mixed feelings about flying on one. Kinda like seeing sausage made. I kid...
Bandit_Driver
Gold Member
I hope it was a fully loaded 350 with glass. If not I think they got screwed....
I am not sure of the perf numbers but didn't the Starship have a bigger cabin, more advaced flight deck, quieter ride, and faster than the BE-350?
NOGUFFCHET
Well-Known Member
so is it really a dog, not worth owning except for the coolness factor? that's too bad. I wonder why they didn't just put full jets on it when it wouldn't compete with the t-props.
jynxyjoe
Queso King
Boy thats a good question. I can ask an old chief engineer I used to know on the program. I imagine it has something to do with the costs of a redesign. Also keep in mind when a program is developed it is very common for the sales staff to have a LARGE say in what happens. I.e. someone needs a larger sized turboprop that can match the speeds of a similar sized jet. Unfortunately many have told me that in those days, for an extra million you could just have a jet.
TUCRACEMAN
Well-Known Member
At AVQ.
~D
I_Money
Moderator
There used to be one at SNA - I thought it was the coolest plane on the field. I believe someone here used to fly one - Jason?
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Signature: please help me out.
I am getting married in July and am trying to win a new living room set to give to my bride as a wedding present (I was recently laid off so buying one if out of the question for the time being). If you could please vote for me I would appreciate it.
Please go to - http://www.lovesac.com/room_planner_contest.asp and vote for me (Iain Holmes I am right at the top).
Cessnaflyer
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
I believe it was a fully loaded 350. The problem with the Starship was that it wasn't as great of a performer as it looked. I think with a few more refinements in design and with the newer composite technology, this aircraft could have turned out to be quite a winner.
Oh well I guess we will have to settle with the Piaggio being the weird design that outperforms all others in its class
jynxyjoe
Queso King
"The starship wing airfoil is a relatively low speed/low wing load variety in comparison to a high speed high wing load wing for a faster jet. Thus the aerodynamics is the limiting factor and to redesign the wing plus the effects of the forward wing on the aft wing would result in turbulance that would not be optimal for a turbine version with higher cruise speeds.
Most airccraft airfoils are designed for a particular range of speeds based on their mission. For example the turboprops are usually slow landing speeds on shorter runways."
Hope that helps you. This is from one of the guys who helped design the thing.
jwp_145
GhostRider in the Sky
Great Insight Jnxy, thanks.
Totally off topic Jnxy, but I remember you saying how much of a turd the Eclipse 500 was, what with bad manufacturing and all... well I was in ABQ last weekend and saw one shuttered up on the ramp. THe trim and finish on that thing is worse that a cheap camper trailer!
Totally off topic Jnxy, but I remember you saying how much of a turd the Eclipse 500 was, what with bad manufacturing and all... well I was in ABQ last weekend and saw one shuttered up on the ramp. THe trim and finish on that thing is worse that a cheap camper trailer!
jynxyjoe
Queso King
Well last I knew they were spraypainting a few of them for the photo ops. May finally be peeling off... genius work out there.
Eclipse a sales pitch that turned into a development nightmare. Everyone in the industry knew it, including cheerleaders like AOPA and Flying. If there was any real reporting on the matter people would have seen it too, especially since so much of the trouble was common/public knowledge, however Eclipse kept buying full page ads to keep everyone quiet. Vern Rayburn really, on some level, thought he and his friends (liberal and conservative darlings) could push the FAA to certify the damn thing. Wrongo.
Burt Rutan at least knew when to stop pushing snake oil.
I know I have a load of posts on this forum but the search function has some sort of sorting dealy where you can read some of my old stuff. I don't care much any more since almost all my predictions have come true. Still waiting for a public congressional inquiry. That may not happen however, politicians are too busy doing nothing these days for a good old fashioned public hanging.
Okie_Pilot
Pitts Builder
Hey jwp_145, soonerav8r
Have you seen the Aerostar at RVS that the guy has removed the engines on the wings and replaced it with a Garrett turbine on the nose? It certainly looked like a major undertaking and some engineering thrown in. I got the opportunity to look at it and ponder for awhile, and they said they were about a week from flying it. I can tell you the name of the guy if you don't know.
Have you seen the Aerostar at RVS that the guy has removed the engines on the wings and replaced it with a Garrett turbine on the nose? It certainly looked like a major undertaking and some engineering thrown in. I got the opportunity to look at it and ponder for awhile, and they said they were about a week from flying it. I can tell you the name of the guy if you don't know.
SoonerAv8r
Well-Known Member
No I haven't seen it. Of course I've had my plane in Mx for a couple of weeks so I haven't spent much time at the airport...Don't know who it is.