Beech
Starship History Continued...
This
gives maintenance personnel an unprecedented record of
aircraft operation, and should contribute to reduced engine
operating costs.
Even as the materials testing and verification was taking
place, Beech was building Starship prototypes to be used
in static and flight testing. The computer has been a
significant tool in this effort. Beech made extensive
use of computer-assisted design in development work, and
this allowed the analysis of the aircraft as no Beech
had ever been before.
Prior
to today's computer technology we would design a wing
and do a number of theoretical load equations in various
flight regimes. The computer allows us to look at thousands
of cases, where once it was practical to only investigate
a few dozen at best.
But
the computer played a much larger role in development
and manufacture than simply predicting loads, for a major
portion of the work was done on a system called CATIA,
which provides a three-dimensional design environment
and interfaces with tooling; an interesting result of
this system's use is that our drawings do not have dimensions-on
them.
Computers will continue to play a major role in Starship
production for many years, because Beech is converting
to a paperless factory. When that is accomplished there
will be personal computers throughout the shop floor,
and when someone needs to build a part the instructions
will be called up on the computer screen.
Parts
orders will come through the computer system, completed
parts will be inventoried, and management will be able
to generate real-time parts inventories at any time. A
bar code system, such as used at supermarket checkouts,
will be used for quality control and to ensure that only
approved employees have access to tooling and information.
Every
operation of the factory will be instituted and monitored
to completion on computers. Portions of this system are
on line now, and more are being added monthly. Complete
conversion will take about four years.
More than any aircraft ever built in general aviation,
Starship is a child of the computer age; its design, development,
manufacturing, operation and maintenance all benefit
heavily from computer input.
The first full size Starship made its maiden flight on
15 February 1986. The second joined the test flight program
in June 1986, and the third was ready for flight in the
early spring of 1987.
In the course of a two-year flight test program they have
flown almost 2000 hours in pursuit of certification for
the most ambitious new development project in the history
of general aviation, and on 14 June it received FAA certification.
The first production Starship, NC-4, went on flight test
late 1988.
Max
E Bleck is former president and chief executive officer
of Beech Aircraft Corporation, a subsidiary of Raytheon
Company. A member of the Beech board of directors and
a director of the Beech Foundation, he serves as chairman
of Scaled Composites, Inc, a Beech subsidiary in Mojave,
California. Bleck joined Beech in January 1988 after a
short period at Gates Learjet Corporation. He has more
than 35 years' engineering and management experience in
the general aviation industry, and was most recently president
and chief operating officer of Cessna Aircraft Corporation.
Other experience has covered Stanley Aviation Corporation,
the Wallace Division of Cessna Aircraft Company, and Piper
Aircraft Corporation. A US Naval Reserve veteran he serves
on the board of directors and executive committee of the
General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and
on the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board of the
National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences
and the National Academy of Engineering.
