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Beech Starship Progresses Towards First Flight
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Beechcraft’s revolutionary Starship is on schedule for its first test flight early in 1986.
Six prototype Starships are being built for the FAA Certification programme. Of these, three will be flying prototypes and three will be used for ground testing. The first prototype has a fuselage built using a revolutionary filament winding process, where the entire unit is wound on a mandrel as a single piece. The second and third prototypes will use fuselages constructed by the more traditional lay-up method. All three aircraft are planned to be flying by mid-year.
Meanwhile, in Mojave, California, the 85% proof of concept aircraft made its first flight with actual production engines on August 29, two years to the day after its maiden flight. The new engines are Pratt & Whitney PT6A-67s flat rated at 1,000shp. They replace PT6A-135As which were rated at only 750shp.
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The proof of concept aircraft has now flown more than 600 hours. Using this aircraft, Beech has successfully completed Starship’s aerodynamic testing and has now devoted this aircraft to systems development. The use of the proof of concept aircraft as a publicity vehicle has also been invaluable and has gone a long way to prove to the world that the Starship is a ‘real’ aircraft programme.
Meanwhile, Beech has just finished remodelling and expanding two of the four main plants at its Wichita location for Starship production. More than half a million square feet of workspace is being dedicated to the Starship facility which will directly employ more than one thousand workers. Beech are also working on a smaller version using basic Starship technology and this aircraft, to be powered by two 350bhp engines, will be aimed as a Duke successor. The new aircraft, which is yet unnamed, will test fly later this year and is aimed to be certified by 1989 using new technology turboprop engines or stratified charge rotaries.
Collins is supplying the primary avionics systems for the Starship and the cockpit (see photo) has been planned as being the most advanced use of EFIS systems yet seen in a GA-class aircraft. Collins equipment includes a ‘glass’ primary flight display, navigation displays, multifunction display, electronic engine indication and crew advisory system (EICAS), air data system, autopilot, attitude heading reference system, flight management system, weather radar, centralised radio tuning units, comm/ nav/pulse sensors, aircraft data acquisition system and engine data concentrators.
Production Starships will seat between ten and eleven passengers, have a maximum cruising speed of over 400mph at 41,000ft and have a range of 2,000 miles. Certification is hoped for by the end of this year with production deliveries commencing through mid-1987.
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