NC-51 over Tehachapi Mountains photo by Chad Slattery
I have started a new quest: fly on a Beechcraft Starship. It won’t be easy and I might not be able to, but I am at least going to try. There are five that are currently flying and my goal is try to get a seat on one of them.
I think like most aviation enthusiasts, I have always had a big fascination with the Starship. Seeing one hanging up at the Future of Flight (which I am at often) has fed my motivation to learn more about this amazing aircraft.
Development for the Beechcraft Starship was started in 1979. In the early 1980’s Beechcraft contracted with Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites company to help build proof-of-concept models for the new aircraft. The first full scale test was flown on February 15, 1980 and the first production Starship flew on April 25, 1989.
The aircraft was unique at the time for using carbon fiber, having a canard design, lack of central vertical tail and pusher engine configuration. At the time carbon fiber had not be used on many aircraft and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had a hard time certifying the plane. Playing it safe, the FAA required the Starship to increase its structural supports , which added overall weight to the airframe. The Starship was supposed to have a max cruise speed of 352 knots and fly for over 2,500 nm, but after the modification, the speed was reduced to 338 knots and a range of only 1,575 nm.
The added weight, economic slowdown and high tax on luxury items at the time meant that Beechcraft was only able to sell seven Starships in its first three years in production. The last Starship was produced in 1995 and then in 2003 Beechcraft determined it was not cost effective to support a small number of planes and started destroying the ones left.
Starships waiting to be destroyed. How sad. Photo by: Derek Hellmann
Different sources state different numbers of how many are actually flying. I have found anywhere from three to nine. However with more research it looks like there might be six still flying, one of which is in Mexico somewhere. That leaves me with five StarShips I can hopefully hitch a ride on:
Stage one was to track down which planes are still around. Stage two will be to try to contact the owners of these planes and talk them into giving me a ride in their plane, which I can blog about. Will it happen? Maybe, but even if it doesn’t, I will enjoy learning more about the plane. Either way, I will be sure to blog about this experience.
Of course if anyone has any connections to the owners of one of the planes, I would love to touch base with you (da***@ai*************.com).
Qantas Airbus A380 with Sydney in the background. Often the A380 flies from Sydney to Singapore.
No, there wasn’t a Jedi master flying on Qantas flight QF31 from Sydney to Singapore. However, there was a man who appeared to be high on drugs and/or alcohol who thought he could crash the plane using his mind. Passengers around the delusional man stated he wanted to bring down the flight using only his mind. Although the fear of it actually happening was low, the flight attendants took no chances and cuffed the man’s arms and legs for the remainder of the flight.
Like most people who end up in cuffs during flight, the gentleman was met in Singapore by police.
View from Delta Air Lines flight into Seattle I took last year. That is Bellevue, WA in the distance.
A lot of people wish we could go back to a time where flying was magical again. I tell those people it still is! It is cheaper and more people fly more often, so it might not seem as special.
Passengers complain about the lack of food and service, but that has little to with the fact you are flying at 30,000 feet in a cylinder, almost at the speed of sound, across the world in a matter of hours. That magic (ok, ok yea there is a lot of science behind it) has never gone away.
Whenever I have the choice, I always pick the window. Why? Because the window is still where you can see the magic of every flight happen.
This is a very entertaining 21 minute video I found via PlaneBuzz.com. Some might watch this and think “the good old days of flying,” but I disagree. Yes, they have limos and all first class service, but notice how only the very rich were flying? Also, first class accommodations back in 1933 are not what they would be like today. No fold down seats, no in flight entertainment and much noisier. Not to mention the shows it takes about six hours to get from Chicago to New York with all the stops, unlike the short flight it would take today.
Don’t forget the safety! The video talks about the high end safety that American Airways had back in the 1930’s, but the safety record is nothing like it is today. Yea, we might have to pay for a lot of fees, but I much rather fly in a full Boeing 737 from Chicago to New York with peanuts than in a bi-winged Curtis Condor any day. (Well, ok…if I got an opportunity to ride in one today, I would but just for the fun of it).
Surinam Airways was founded in 1955 and is the national airline of Surname. It is fully owned by the Suriname’s government and operates to only nine destinations. The airline currently only has a fleet of three aircraft, one Airbus A340-300 and two Boeing 737-300’s. In November 2009, Surinam Airways purchased the Airbus to replace the Boeing 747-300 in the photo.
Can you notice the slight changes of livery on the newer Airbus 340 versus the older Boeing 747-300.
