Ron Rapp is a pilot and blogger. His blog is called The House of Rapp and his Jan. 20 post, A Starship in the Wild ,conjured up a wonderful memory.
While in line to depart Vail, Colorado’s Aspen Eagle Airport, Ron saw a Beechcraft Starship. Not many were built, and far fewer are flying still today. To witness one in the wild is a rare treat. His words led me to offer the following comment on his website:
“Ron… thank you for the wonderful memory this post conjured up. My Dad and I flew to Portland so he could fly a Starship, for a pilot report in Western Flyer (known as General Aviation News today). As a young teenager, I happily tagged along. After the pilot and Dad ran the Starship through its paces, he tapped me on the shoulder and said, “You wanna fly it?” Are you kidding me? I couldn’t get into the cockpit fast enough. It was only about 10-minutes and a few s-turns at 17,500′… but it was 10-minutes and a few s-turns in a STARSHIP.”
Years ago, when I lived in a small town in Arizona, I heard a plane overhead with an unusual sound.
I looked up, and realized that I was seeing a Starship. My (now-ex-)wife didn’t understand why I was so excited. “It’s just a plane!”
No. The Starship was NEVER just a plane.
there are a half dozen Starship’s sans engines and probably other stuff at the Marana Regional airport north of Tucson, AZ.
I saw the Starship several times in the wild. Once on the ground in Kankakee and once somewhere else I don’t remember. I live in North Atlanta in the approach path to PDK and used to watch one every now and then fly overhead on it’s way in. Think it belonged to Ted Turner. Pushers make a unique sound and it gets your attention. I now sometimes watch a Piaggio fly the same route into PDK. You can always tell what it is from the sound.
Glad you enjoyed the post, Ben!