The Beechcraft Starship 2000 was an extremely innovative design when it was released in 1986. The luxury plane includes two pusher propeller turbo prop engines, two forewings known as "canards," and two large winglets on the main wings that Beechcraft called "tip sails." Furthermore, the Starship is the first civilian plane to be skinned mostly in carbon fiber composite rather than aluminum. Unfortunately, this innovative design meant that the project was delayed and over budget. The Starship struggled to compete with other luxury planes of similar cost and higher performance, such as the Cessna Citation V and Learjet 31. After the commercial failure, Beechcraft attempted to buy the remaining Starships, making this plane one of the few intact examples.

After the failure, a limited number of the planes were donated to museums. Our Starship was flown to the museum from Rockford, Ill., in August 2003.

Type:
Executive Turboprop

Powerplant:
2 Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 turboprop engines, 1200 h.p. each

Max speed:
385 m.p.h.

Ceiling:
35,800 ft.

Range:
1,814 mi.

Weights:
Gross 14,900

Weapons:
None

Dimensions:
Span 54 ft. 5 in.
Length 46 ft. 1 in.
Height 12 ft. 11 in.