When Beechcraft introduced the Starship in the 1980s, the company was searching for a way to refresh its aging turboprop line in a market that had endured years of declining demand. General aviation manufacturers were cautious, and new designs were scarce.
Against this backdrop, Beech pursued one of the most technologically advanced aircraft of the time targeted at business aviation. With help from Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites, the Starship emerged as a clean-sheet design that stood apart from anything on the ramp, and it carried the promise of modern materials, lower cabin noise and greater efficiency.
That promise, however, arrived during a difficult sales climate and at the cost of a lengthy certification process.
A New Direction in Materials and Design
The Starship’s airframe was built largely from carbon-fiber composites, making it the first pressurized civil aircraft certified by the FAA to use the material so extensively. NASA later noted that Beech selected composites for their durability and favorable strength-to-weight ratio. The aircraft had an incredibly unique design as well, using a forward wing, tip-mounted fins and a pair of pusher turboprops.
Inside, the cockpit featured one of the first “all glass” instrument panels in a business turboprop, with cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays replacing traditional gauges.
The design validated early composite concepts tested on a 4/5-scale prototype built in 1983 and was a major change in direction from the company’s other all-metal aircraft.
Certification Challenges and Cost Growth
As the aircraft progressed through testing, added structure and systems increased its weight, requiring larger Pratt & Whitney PT6A-67A engines and updated propellers.
With the changes came a prolonged certification process. According to Air & Space Magazine, engineers were still implementing major design changes through the end of May 1988, and the drawn-out schedule placed added pressure on the program. The Starship did not receive full FAA production certification until late 1989.
This was well behind early projections. By that point, development costs had grown significantly and the aircraft entered service at a higher price point than originally planned. The combination of weight increases, additional complexity and regulatory requirements contributed to a launch that proved difficult for the company to manage well.
Early Reliability Issues and Market Headwinds
When the first production aircraft reached customers, initial issues with systems such as air conditioning, door seals and bleed-air valves affected early perceptions. Operators later reported that these problems were resolved on later serial numbers, but these early problems with such a bold new aircraft left lasting impressions that were hard to shake.
Meanwhile, the mid- to late-1980s were challenging years for new-aircraft sales. Used aircraft were abundant and relatively cost-effective, and changes to federal tax rules further influenced purchasing decisions. Industry analysts cited by national news outlets at the time pointed out that new aircraft needed to be “dramatically better” than existing options to compete with available used models.
While the Starship offered advanced technology, its unconventional appearance and relatively unproven technologies for the time proved to be barriers to adoption. That, along with its high price point, placed it at a disadvantage in the day’s relatively conservative business aviation market.
Longevity, Support and a Limited Legacy
Production ended in 1995 at 53 airframes, and Raytheon—Beech’s parent company—later determined that supporting such a small, specialized fleet was no longer practical. A company spokesperson told Air & Space Magazine that many parts unique to the aircraft were no longer being manufactured, making continued support an unrealistic and cost-prohibitive venture.
“Many parts on that airplane are unique to the Starship and are no longer being made by suppliers,” Raytheon spokesman Tim Travis said. “From a business standpoint, it was a losing proposition and it always would be.”
In response to this reality, the company began a program of acquiring back many of the aircraft. As it acquired the aircraft, it began decommissioning them, though several examples remained with private operators.
Although the Starship itself was short-lived, much of the technology behind the aircraft proved to be reliable over time. A 2017 FAA teardown study of a retired Starship aft wing found no significant structural degradation after 12 years of service and roughly 1,800 flight hours, noting that the composite structure maintained its integrity.
The aircraft’s design also contributed data to NASA’s crashworthiness research during a 1995 full-scale test.
While Beechcraft’s Starship was by no means a commercial success, its real legacy was its technology. The Starship ultimately served as a demonstration platform for composite construction methods and avionics integration techniques that would go on to influence later programs.
