Light Business Jets
Hawker 400XP
ICAO: BE40
Overview
The Beechcraft Starship 2000 was a pressurized twin-turboprop business aircraft with a canard layout, pusher propellers and an airframe made almost entirely of carbon-fiber composite. Beech flew it in 1986 and stopped building it in 1995 after just 53 aircraft, then scrapped most of the fleet in 2003. It remains one of the most radical business aircraft ever certified.
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Specifications
Units
- Engine
- 2 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67A
- Engine type
- Turboprop
- Power
- 2 × 1,200 shp · 895 kW
- Avionics
- Rockwell Collins Pro Line 4
- Wing tips
- Blended tips
- Seats
- 8
- Crew
- —
- Cabin width
- 5 ft 7 in · 1.70 m
- Cabin height
- 5 ft 3 in · 1.60 m
- Cabin length
- 21 ft 2 in · 6.44 m
- Exterior length
- 46 ft 1 in · 14.05 m
- Tail height
- 12 ft 11 in · 3.94 m
- Fuselage diameter
- 6 ft 1 in · 1.85 m
- Wing span
- 54 ft 5 in · 16.58 m
- Baggage volume
- 53 ft³ · 1.5 m³
- Gross weight
- —
- Empty weight
- 10,085 lb · 4,574 kg
- Max takeoff weight
- 14,900 lb · 6,750 kg
- Max landing weight
- 13,700 lb · 6,200 kg
- Max payload
- 1,200 lb · 550 kg
- Fuel capacity
- 570 gal · 2,100 L · 1,700 kg (Jet A)
- Maximum speed
- 335 kt · 386 mph · 620 km/h
- Cruise speed
- 307 kt · 353 mph · 569 km/h
- Approach speed
- 97 kt · 112 mph · 180 km/h
- Range
- 1,576 nm · 1,810 mi · 2,920 km
- Fuel burn
- 2.79 nm/gal · 1.36 km/L
- Ceiling
- 41,000 ft · 12,500 m
- Rate of climb
- 2,748 ft/min · 14 m/s
- Takeoff distance
- 3,100 ft · 950 m
- Landing distance
- 2,400 ft · 730 m
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Operational Context
Table of Contents
What Is the Beechcraft Starship 2000?
The Beechcraft Starship 2000 is a twin-turboprop business aircraft with a canard layout. It has a small forward wing, a large main wing at the back and two pusher propellers.
It was also the first pressurized business aircraft built almost entirely of carbon-fiber composite. Beech planned it as the successor to the King Air, but the market never took to it.
How the Starship Was Developed
Work began in 1979, and Beech chose the canard layout in early 1980. In 1982 the company contracted Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites to build an 85 percent scale proof-of-concept aircraft, which flew in 1983.
The program was announced in October 1983 as the “Starship 1”. The first of three full-size prototypes flew on February 15, 1986.
FAA type certification came in 1987, two years later than planned. Estimates of the development bill range from $300 million to $1 billion.
Design: Canard, Pushers and Composites
The forward wing is a variable-geometry canard, and the main wing carries winglets with rudders built in. Beech called these “tipsails”.
Two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67A engines drive five-blade McCauley propellers from behind the cabin. The engines are rated at 2 × 1,200 shp, and the aircraft can climb to 41,000 ft.
Inside the cockpit was a Rockwell Collins Proline 4 system, reported as the first all-glass cockpit in a business aircraft. Production aircraft also had computer-controlled cabin pressurization, which the proof-of-concept lacked.
The airframe came out several thousand pounds heavier than Beech had targeted. That cost the Starship speed, and left it short of the performance that had been promised.
Understanding the Starship’s Numbers
The full specification table for the aircraft is on this page.
Published figures for range differ by source, with Wikipedia and Pima’s museum page quoting different numbers, so treat any single range as approximate.
The same is true of seating. Sources describe a cabin for six passengers in a typical executive layout, while the specification panel carries a higher seat count for the densest arrangement.
Why the Starship Failed
The first production Starship flew on April 25, 1989. In the first three years after certification, Beech sold only 11 to private owners.
The list price in 1989 was $3.9 million, and Beech began offering two-year leases in 1991. Wikipedia attributes the weak sales to a late-1980s economic slowdown, a U.S. luxury tax, early reliability problems and the unusual appearance.
It also had to compete on price and performance with conventional jets such as the Cessna Citation V and the Learjet 31. Production ended in 1995 with 53 aircraft built.
How Many Starships Are Still Flying?
In 2003 Beech decided that supporting such a small fleet was too expensive and began decommissioning the aircraft. Evergreen Air Center in Arizona handled the work, and sold eight Starships to private owners for $50,000 each. Most were used for parts.
By January 2010, nine Starships still held active FAA registrations. By September 2020, six were airworthy, five in the United States and one in Germany.
Those counts come from 2020 sources, so the number flying today may differ. Several others are on display, including the example at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there any Beech Starships still flying?
Yes, a few. A 2020 count found six airworthy Starships, five in the United States and one in Germany. Nine held active FAA registrations in January 2010.
Why did the Beech Starship fail?
It was late, heavy and expensive, and it entered a weak market. Beech sold only 11 to private owners in the first three years, and conventional jets offered better price and performance.
How many Beech Starships were built?
Beech built 53 Starships, with the last built in 1995. Wikipedia and the Pima Air & Space Museum both give that count.
How much does a Beechcraft Starship cost?
The 1989 list price was $3.9 million; the panel above shows the later 1993 figure. Used examples are rare, and several of the decommissioned aircraft were sold in 2003 for $50,000 each, mainly for parts.
Sources and references used for research and fact-checking.