On page 20 of the Feb, 05 issue "Flying" states that "Beech re-acquired the last Starship flying".
Interesting news, considering there are still four Starships in private hands that are currently in service. None of us are interested in selling our aircraft back to Beech/Raytheon, nor have any of us ever been approached by them for "re acquisition".
We have the parts to keep our beautiful Starships flying for decades to come.
Long live the Starship!
Best regards,
Robert Scherer
NC-51 - Primary chase for SpaceShipOne
All Comments
In fact, a quick search of the FAA registry returns the following Beech model 2000s that are still owned by folks other than Raytheon:
N514RS
N8285Q
N641SE (owned by, get this, Starship Enterprises LLC - groan)
N8244L
N8149S
N45FL
But Raytheon owns the other 41 of the 47 on the registry.
Chad
"Starship Enterprises, LLC"
Thing is, if you squint, they might bear a slight resemblance to a Klingon Bird of Prey (OK, Ted_Stryker, I know that you're an unrepentant Trekkie, so go for it).
More to the point, why is it that people who can afford to buy expensive toys get cute in naming them? Look at the transoms of boats at any high-end marina in the world to see what I mean.
Date: 2/15/2005 11:16:50 PM
Anonymous Wrote:
OK, last post was mine, but stupid computer won't let me log in. Arrrggh.
rvmeder
Hmm, I've seen that happen a lot to you and never to me. Do you have your browser rejecting cookies or something? Or maybe your password is difficult to type correctly and the system isn't giving you a warning when you type it incorrectly on a reply?
Try this: Always hit Preview instead of Submit after typing a response. You'll get to see whether it is attaching your user name to the reply when you proof read your previewed response (look to the left of it).
Just received the April 2005 issue.
"Flying Mail" (p40) has a letter entitled "Starships Still Fly" written by Raytheon's Earl Graffus correcting Flying's error that is the title of this thread.
But then Flying responds: "...We should have said that Beech has attempted to purchase all Starships and retire them." --Ed.
Again, this is simply NOT TRUE! I have never been approached by Beech or Raytheon regarding the re acquisition of my Starship - NC-51. And being in regular communication with the other three Starship owners, I can confirm that they have had similar experiences...No calls, letters or email from Beech regarding getting their Starship back.
So lets finally put the bad press to bed...It was only a rumor that Beech was actively trying to scrap the entire Starship fleet.
Thank you,
Robert Scherer
Owner/Pilot - Starship NC-51, Primary chase for SpaceShipOne / Global Flyer
Date: 3/22/2005 3:31:44 PM
Author: Starship Pilot
... the other three Starship owners ...
Just three other Starships? As I indicated in my post above (2/15/2005 10:10:34 PM), I found six remaining owners.
Have you contacted Raytheon to ask why they make this claim when you've never been contacted?
Anyway, it seems like lazy reporting on Flying's part, since it was very easy to search the FAA registry and determine that the initial claims were untrue. Granted, the registry doesn't tell whether or not they tried to acquire the rest, but now we know they didn't (unless you're particularly hard to reach? ).
Uh - actually I'm the department hacker in my company. And my passords are based on N numbers I've either flown personally or seen at airports (look random to auditors and others, easy for me to remember). Actually, when I changed the Avatar, ''cause I didn't like the old ones, it wasn't clear that I had to go into my e-mail and accept the note it sent as if I were a new user.
Date: 3/22/2005 6:03:56 PM
Author: rvmeder
Uh - actually I'm the department hacker in my company. And my passords are based on N numbers I've either flown personally or seen at airports (look random to auditors and others, easy for me to remember). Actually, when I changed the Avatar, ''cause I didn't like the old ones, it wasn't clear that I had to go into my e-mail and accept the note it sent as if I were a new user.
... Blink.
The registry seems to be very slow to update it's records.
There are 4 actively flying Starships in private hands: NC-29, NC-45, NC-50 and NC-51. NC-35 is in Mexico and is owned by an insurance company. She has not flown in a couple of years.
All the rest are either in museums (6), have been used for destructive structural testing (4), or are awaiting incineration at Pinal Airpark in Arizona. Evergreen personnel have told me that all remaining Starship airframes will be burned within 9 months. But eight airframes have been purchased by private parties (including myself) as parts planes. They will reside at Pinal indefinately but will never fly again (sad).
And it's true...Raytheon has never contacted any Starship owner in pursuit of their airplane. I've discussed the topic with at least 8 current and prior owners. Raytheon P.R. people just don't seem to know what's going on within the company.
Long live the Starship!
Robert Scherer
NC-51
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