Saw one of these today

[Dragon]

It was taking off from the airport nearby and flew overhead.  It was the strangest sounding aircraft I've ever heard.

http://rps3.com/Images/Pages/Starship/NC-21%20to%20NC-30/NC-28%2001%20Lg.jpg


It may not have been the exact model, but was a twin prop pusher.

[expat]

thought beechcraft bought em all back ????
nope i was wrong only 6 left airworthy  so that was a lucky spot

[Serenity]

It's certainly a sexy plane!

[AKHog]

It was the strangest sounding aircraft I've ever heard.

However, the propellers are operating in a turbulent airflow in the pusher configuration (due to airflow past the wings moving aft in vortex sheets), and thus the resulting propeller noise is more choppy and raucous than otherwise.

[WilldCrd]

if the one in the pic isn't what you saw then perhaps you saw one of burt Rhutan's <sp?> creatons.
The man really knows how to create some wicked aircraft (and scapcraft!)

[Dragon]

It may have been one of his, but IIRC none of his 2 engined planes are still flying.

[Roundeye]

It could have been an Avanti.   http://www.piaggioaero.com/en/

The Beech Starship was a Rutan design but it failed miserably.  Beech bought them back and scrapped them to avoid problems and if I remember correctly, one man saved as many as he could and still operates them.

[AWwrgwy]

It could have been an Avanti.   http://www.piaggioaero.com/en/

The Beech Starship was a Rutan design but it failed miserably.  Beech bought them back and scrapped them to avoid problems and if I remember correctly, one man saved as many as he could and still operates them.

Stupid question:

I'm assuming Beech bought them all back so as to avoid a lawsuit if a nut fell off or something?  The fate of the small airplane industry.

I love stupid questions.  Always good answers.


wrongway

[Dago]

I have heard one owner refused to sell his Starship back to Beechcraft. 

[Lusche]

Stupid question:

I'm assuming Beech bought them all back so as to avoid a lawsuit if a nut fell off or something?  The fate of the small airplane industry.

I love stupid questions.  Always good answers.


wrongway

Well.. according to Wikipedia:
"Many of the aircraft were eventually leased by Raytheon, which allowed the company to control their distribution and operational life. Raytheon considered the cost of supporting a commercial fleet of just 53 aircraft with necessary parts and flight training to be prohibitive. Leasing the aircraft allowed Raytheon to effectively recall and ground most of the fleet at the end of their initial leases."

Sounds logical to me, but keep in mind  I have almost no clue about this kind of business

[Golfer]

It was very likely a Piaggio P180 Avanti.



And they do make a unique sound.  They're loud, they're goofy and you don't have to look up to know what it is.

[Xasthur]

Why were they such a failure?

[rabbidrabbit]

They had no access to Google?

[Nilsen]

Why were they such a failure?

Didnt come with an iPod dock?

[Lusche]

Why were they such a failure?

Too expensive for the performance it offered. Compared unfavorably to buisness jets that had about the same price tag.