REFLECTOR: Starship

[gpoole@zeta.org.au (Mr Greg Poole)]

Dear Carl,

The reason I bought a Velocity was a result of the Beech Starship. I saw it
doing a few orbits over Sydney's Eastern Creek Drag Strip  quite a few
years ago and it was love at first sight. The elegance of something so new
and revolutionary was captivating as it swept overhead. It really lit my
fuse. The $2m price tag left me despondent until I later discovered
Velocity. I also learnt (only recently) that the Starship has been
described as an airial slug given the gross overdesign characteristics
(substantially increasing its' weight) forced on it by the FAA who were
said to be less than conversant with the strength of composites at the time
it was undergoing certification. If this is true, then thank Heavens
Meyer/Velocity came out fighting with a more practical power to weight
ratio enabling appropriate use of the canard config.

I guess the the Starship was way ahead of it's time which led to it's
ultimate demise. I wonder if it had been developed & released much later
than it was, whether we would have seen alot more built and see them still
in production.

If anybody amongst our learned "Reflectorites" can shed some accurate light
I would be interested in knowing more about this phenomenal looking
aircraft.

Regards,

Greg.

Greg Poole (Parenting an infant Std RG Elite down under)