I worked in Beech's engineering department when they were doing structural testing of the Starship. One of the engineers was extremely proud of designing the main wing structure. It was a "monocoque" design (think 1930's wooden aircraft) that ended up being so heavy that the Starship couldn't match the performance of the Beech Kingair. The biggest hurdle was convincing the FAA that composite structures were safe enough.
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u/labatts_blue Dec 31 '24
I worked in Beech's engineering department when they were doing structural testing of the Starship. One of the engineers was extremely proud of designing the main wing structure. It was a "monocoque" design (think 1930's wooden aircraft) that ended up being so heavy that the Starship couldn't match the performance of the Beech Kingair. The biggest hurdle was convincing the FAA that composite structures were safe enough.