Recent sales suggest in the vicinity of two million U.S. dollars, if you could find a seller and if Raytheon didn't make the seller a better offer to incent them to trade up to one of the company's newer planes.

Only a total 53 Starships were produced.

What are Starship "NC" numbers?

Planes are conventionally refered to by their tail numbers, but those-in-the-know in the Starship community refer to the 53 Starships by their serial numbers. These serial numbers were prefixed "NC" by Beech/Raytheon, a supposed acronym for "New Concept". The first commercially delivered Starship was, therefore, referred to as NC-04. Science fiction fans among us prefer to believe "NC" was a crafty marketer's nod to Star Trek's NCC-series nomenclature.

Were there different models of the Starship?

The initial Starship design was known of as "Starship 1", and then became commonly known as the "Starship 2000A" configuration at NC-21 and later.

Beginning with NC-21, the airplane was redesigned with a six place interior which replaced the original eight place interior. Fuel quantity was reduced two hundred pounds to provide better range-payload. At the same time, the toilet was moved to the back of the cabin to reduce weight. However, so much extra soundproofing was added to reduce the noise levels in the cabin that not much, if any, weight was saved in the end.

Selected earlier Starship 1 planes were modified to become 2000As.

How many Starships are still flying today?

It appears about 9. Indications are most of them are based in the U.S.

Is the Starship as quiet in flight as it's reported to be?

Yes. It's easy for passengers in the cabin to converse. The rear-mounted engines, inherent vibration damping of the aircraft's composite structure and a whole lot of soundproofing contribute to a quiet flight.

This wasn't always the case, however. Noise levels in the early airplanes were so high that the original Starship test team made buttons for themselves that read, "I just flew the Starship, please speak up!"

Can the Starship really be flown by a single pilot?

Many people can't believe a plane of the complexity of the Starship can be flown by a single pilot, but it can be, and it's quite manageable thanks to the plane's advanced avionics. On the other hand single pilots, particularly owner-pilots, face significantly higher insurance rates.

The Starship is one of the few airplanes that has two type ratings: BE-2000 and BE2000S, the former for dual pilot and the latter for being for single-pilot operations.

What sort of comments does the Starship generate from observers?

Starship pilots have likened the plane to "a girl in a bikini", saying the plane turns heads wherever it goes! Pilots say it's not unusual for the plane to attract crowds, particularly in small centers unaccustomed to seeing innovative new space-age aircraft. Some observers have called the plane "flying sculpture".

Where is the Starship graveyard?

Raytheon is flying its Starship fleet to
Pinal Air Park in Marana, Arizona near Tucscon. They've been officially in storage, but at least some are said to be being quietly disassembled for parts.

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