st27 Posted April 14, 2004 Share Posted April 14, 2004 While scrolling down through the pics in Airliners.net,there was a couple of shots of about 15 Beech Starships in storage,the caption being that they were ready for scrapping.Are they still airworthy or did they have some regulatory problems? Any ideas?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest G3 Posted April 14, 2004 Share Posted April 14, 2004 The Starship still has a valid Type Certificate from the FAA but Raytheon is finding it too expensive to continue supporting the Starship. So they are offering a New King Air 350 in trade to current Starship owners and taking the used Starship and removing it from service. There are 2 or 3 current Starship operators that have stated they will continue to operate the aircraft. Raytheon has stated they will support these aircraft with parts from the parked aircraft but they have also stated that this will only continue for so long. G3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st27 Posted April 14, 2004 Author Share Posted April 14, 2004 Thanks for the prompt response.I believe the aircraft was mostly composite construction,is this the area where the support problems lie?My experience is with the airline side of things and I never actually saw the aircraft or talked with any operators.I take it the aircraft must have performed ok if some operators are not willing to part with it.Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest G3 Posted April 14, 2004 Share Posted April 14, 2004 I don't think there were any unusual problems with regards to the aircrafts composite skin. However, they only built about 50 aircraft, so maintaining a spares and maintenance program for so few aircraft must be prohibitively expensive. I do know that Beechcraft made money on the program. There was also alot of innovation with regards to the composites and the various processes. They hold the patents for alot of it and this technology can be put use in alot of other industries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fl330 Posted April 15, 2004 Share Posted April 15, 2004 Got me wondering as well, her is what found Cheers http://www.starshipdiaries.com/today.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st27 Posted April 15, 2004 Author Share Posted April 15, 2004 Thanks for the link.I don't know if many other people notice,but I think aviation in Canada is becoming very sterile,at least in yyz...Dash8,320/330/340,737,767 and the odd corporate machine.Not too long ago you might see a DC3,b99,DC4,L188...I miss the variety.YVR seems to be good for plane spotting though, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Flying Beaver! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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