Beechcraft Starship

This is not your ordinary Starship!! A product of the late-80's, the Starship was a revolutionary design for the time, where composite materials were only used in small quantities, much less so on a civilian aircraft. Several things stand out with this bird aside the futuristic look. The canard system helps prevent stalls by pitching the nose down in high-AoA flight. The pusher design allows for a quieter ride save for a loss in efficiency, and the "tipsails" act in place of a conventional vertical stabilizer, which only "would have transmitted propeller noise into the airframe".

This was a very difficult model to create. As the aviation world prefers evolution over revolution, the Starship did not sell well, and with only a scarce few aircraft remaining in one piece, documentation and good-quality photos of the aircraft were difficult to find. This also marks my first attempt at designing the iconic Pratt and Whitney PT6 in a stand-alone nacelle. My models up to this point featuring PT6s have had the engine contained in the nose. Getting the geometry as close as I could get was very challenging. Overall I am satisfied with the work, but am eagerly waiting for you to print this so I may get feedback. If you have any, leave a comment!

Version 1.0.8