Beech Starship in 1:33

[josh]

medical supply stores or flea markets, i got bunches of the at a local flea market for a buck a piece.

[will69]

Don´t know if this has been put up somewhere, but I found this page when surfing around, searching Beech Starcraft: Beechcraft Starship Resources

It has some good pics. I thought it was good to put it here because of the thread. If it should be somewhere else, let me know.

[jobeaux]

Thanks Josh, I'll have to hunt down a med supply place. I bought a set of tweezers at a crafts supply place that were in a bubble pack where you couldn't really get to 'em to check out their quality. Got them home, opened them and discovered they were pretty much unuseable. Grr!

Great link will69, Robert Scherer is actually the owner of NC-51, which is the aircraft depicted by this model. Did you notice the status of NC-35? She "escaped" to Mexico before Raytheon managed to get their hands on her and chopped her up. She's been sitting on the tarmac rotting away ever since, and would now require an amazing amount of maintenance and repair to ever fly again. I still like to imagine that someday someone might get her flying again, though it becomes less and less likely every day.

[will69]

AAhh, interesting info, I did not notice. I have always liked this kind of aircrafts. Good luck with your build. I will follow your progress with great interest. I have the model on my build-list, but to much too do with to little time. ...and a 2-year old to take care off...

[rmks2000]

Jobeaux

Thanks for the complement on translating. It was mostly typing the instructions into Google and hittling the translate button. Marian did look it over though.

Another suggestion for clamping tweezers: try the small copper spring clamps available at Radio Shack. They have a flat clamping surface (no teeth), about 2-3 mm wide.

Also, as far as losing parts, I sometimes pin one end of a towel to the underside of my workbench and then drape the other end across my lap. This catches any parts or tools that I drop.

[Swampfox]

I was wondering if anyone knows which Starship is parked at the Aspen, Co. Airport? I drove past the airport about a month ago and noticed one parked along side all the other planes on the tarmac.... and NO, I didn't imagine it. It's partial registration number had a "51" in it.......... maybe it's Robert Scherer's. I just don't know.

Any ideas? Maybe I need to go back up there now that ski season is over and the dust has settled for another year and take some picts.....

Thanks for any help,
SFX

[jobeaux]

Originally Posted by will69

I have the model on my build-list, but to much too do with to little time. ...and a 2-year old to take care off...

2 year old... whew, I bet you do stay busy!

Originally Posted by rmks2000

Also, as far as losing parts, I sometimes pin one end of a towel to the underside of my workbench and then drape the other end across my lap. This catches any parts or tools that I drop.

Good tip! I'll have to set that one up, I'm a klutz.

Originally Posted by Swampfox

I was wondering if anyone knows which Starship is parked at the Aspen, Co. Airport? I drove past the airport about a month ago and noticed one parked along side all the other planes on the tarmac.... and NO, I didn't imagine it. It's partial registration number had a "51" in it.......... maybe it's Robert Scherer's. I just don't know.

It just about has to be his, only five are considered to be in active service, and the tail number on his bird, N514RS, is the only one of those five with a 51 in it.
-Edit-
Just looked at the website again and "home" is listed as being Aspen, so the answer is definitively yes.

[jobeaux]

And here's today's progress;
The cokpit glued onto the bulkhead, then the skin glued on.


Next the cockpit is slid into the nose and glued in place.


I used clear packing tape to do the windscreen. The first shot is the frame before taping, the second is after applying the outer layer of tape and trimming, and the third is after installation. Rather than trying to glue the windscreen on I left tabs on the inner layer of tape an used them to tape the windscreen in place. You can just make out the tabs for the roof in the third shot.


Shape the two roof pieces, glue 'em together, and tape/glue them in place.


I should have been able to get further, but I'm not happy with the way the packing tape worked out on the cabin windows, so I'm gonna reprint a couple of the fuselage sheets and experiment before the next step. Any suggestions?

Stay tuned for more!

[Zathros]

This is a beautiful aircraft. The model is stunning. I look forward to this thread. I have worked on "real" aircraft, many kinds. I also have piloted many kinds. I managed an F.B.O. in exchange for using the various aircraft they had. I also have built many types of gliders.

The reason I mention this is that this model will not scale up and fly properly. I have learned this through experience, as I am sure you have, or you wouldn't be taking on a project like this. You end up having to throw them really really hard to get them to fly.

I would make transparent ( they obviously don't have to be transparent) pieces of slip over the canards, to add more lift. They will otherwise stall out prematurely, as the aerodynamics are not correct. I would also increase the cord of the canards and the main wing, and consider adding some extended trailing edges to give more wing surface. This would be necessary also if you are making it powered. (I know the picture you posted is only the wing spare. Over sized rudders can create enough drag to give a nose up force. Just some things I have run across. I hope I am not being too forward in mentioning this. it is probably stuff you already know. If so, my apologies.





You're off to a good start and I would really like to see a video clip when you get it done. The very best luck to you.

[jobeaux]

Thanks for watching Zathros! I'm afraid I may have confused you by saying "in flight." I shoud have said "in flight configuration." I don't have anywhere near the skills it would take make this a flying model. She's jest fer lookin' at.

Don't feel bad about the post though, I really enjoyed it. It points to the biggest difficulty in building flying scale models; everything gets smaller when you scale things down except the air. It stays the same. I suspect to get this one to fly and look about right you'd have to scale it WAY up.