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QuoteAnd, if you look near the end of runway 36, you can also see one of the 53 Beech Starships ever built parked near a hangar, possibly the Beechcraft Heritage Museum. Not a jump plane but an interesting aircraft anyway.
Years ago, when jumping at Joe & Rose's place in Apple Valley - CA, a Starship came through the airport. As I remember it was really LOUD as compared to other somewhat similar turbines I've been around... I hope they has some good sound insulation in the thing so it wasn't so bad to be inside of. Anyway, I've heard that Raytheon has been quietly buying back as many of the Startships they (Beech) built & sold?
PhreeZone 15
Raytheon bought almost every airframe back and ground it up. ![[:/]](/uploads/emoticons/dry.png "[:/]"){kind=small}
They screwed up and offered free maintenance for the owners for a given time after purchase with out stipulations. The largest owner was Raytheon's leasing division that was 1 hanger away almost. This lead to the planes going over for every stupid little issue like dead overhead lights, squeaky trim, etc. The Leasing divsion was billed for all the work so they had a reputation of being money pits for maintenance when in fact the vast majority of the "repairs" were because the planes were just sitting around and the maintenance shop didn't have anything else to do. The owners that still have planes are not letting go of them for the most part despite Raytheon offering what was said to be near purchase price for some of the airframes.
Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery
Parachutemanuals.com
And tomorrow is a mystery
Parachutemanuals.com
I work at Beech (not on the Starship though) and I believe that one of the biggest issues of recalling them was the props. Composite specially made and the exhaust stacks blowing right on them would really tear them up. Manufacturers wanted to build quantites not specialties. We did learn quite a bit about composites that seems to be paying off.
http://www.bobscherer.com/Pages/Starship.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Starship
A dang good aircraft with a sad ending.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Starship
A dang good aircraft with a sad ending.
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You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.
You're not as good as you think you are. Seriously.
So how did a DC-3 thread get D. B. Coopered into a Starship thread? 
My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239
Thats good but whats he doing for a living? still flying ?
smile, be nice, enjoy life
FB # - 1083
FB # - 1083
3331 108
Mark is flying at Skydive Deland and doing AP work.
I Jumped with the guys who invented Skydiving.
cool,,thanx
smile, be nice, enjoy life
FB # - 1083
FB # - 1083
mwabd1 0
Mark is flying the Skyvan at Deland. I was on the last attempt at flying jumpers in Mr. D at Palatka. The right engine blew an oil line and caught fire shortly after the tail wheel left the ground. That was a great plane, I did alot of my first 100 jumps from her.
.......I hereby reject your reality and instead choose to insert my own!
QuoteQuoteAny one know what the old owner of MR.D is up to? Mark , i believe his name was....
no idea. but I do know Mr D is still sitting lonely and broken at the Tullahoma TN airport...
That is sad to hear. I made quite a number of jumps from that plane in the mid '70s. I remember one in particular where Jaybo was counting heads as we taxied into place for takeoff. 57, 58, 59, 60.... Balls to the wall guys (he yelled to the front)! I think that plane would fly with any load you could stuff into it
It was also the fastest climbing DC-3 I ever rode in and the most comfortable with the side insulation still in place and an 8 speaker 8-track (yes, 8-track) sound system usually playing "Dark Side of the Moon."
-----------------------
Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519
BillyVance 34
QuoteQuoteQuoteAny one know what the old owner of MR.D is up to? Mark , i believe his name was....
no idea. but I do know Mr D is still sitting lonely and broken at the Tullahoma TN airport...
That is sad to hear. I made quite a number of jumps from that plane in the mid '70s. I remember one in particular where Jaybo was counting heads as we taxied into place for takeoff. 57, 58, 59, 60.... Balls to the wall guys (he yelled to the front)! I think that plane would fly with any load you could stuff into it
It was also the fastest climbing DC-3 I ever rode in and the most comfortable with the side insulation still in place and an 8 speaker 8-track (yes, 8-track) sound system usually playing "Dark Side of the Moon."
Did it have that loose window back then, on the left side? I jumped it a number of times in the late 90's, and I was sitting right in front of that loose window, which made a helluva racket vibrating in place. I played with it, putting my hand on and off it - BBBBB BBB BBB BBBBBB BBBB BBBBBB BBBB BBBBBB until somebody started getting pissed and tried to tell me to stop that shit. I just kept doing it.
"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban
QuoteQuoteQuoteQuoteAny one know what the old owner of MR.D is up to? Mark , i believe his name was....
no idea. but I do know Mr D is still sitting lonely and broken at the Tullahoma TN airport...
That is sad to hear. I made quite a number of jumps from that plane in the mid '70s. I remember one in particular where Jaybo was counting heads as we taxied into place for takeoff. 57, 58, 59, 60.... Balls to the wall guys (he yelled to the front)! I think that plane would fly with any load you could stuff into it
It was also the fastest climbing DC-3 I ever rode in and the most comfortable with the side insulation still in place and an 8 speaker 8-track (yes, 8-track) sound system usually playing "Dark Side of the Moon."
Did it have that loose window back then, on the left side? I jumped it a number of times in the late 90's, and I was sitting right in front of that loose window, which made a helluva racket vibrating in place. I played with it, putting my hand on and off it - BBBBB BBB BBB BBBBBB BBBB BBBBBB BBBB BBBBBB until somebody started getting pissed and tried to tell me to stop that shit. I just kept doing it.
Hmmm, don't remember a loose window. I do believe there was a window over the wing that could be opened in flight. I think I took some exit shots out that window but it could have been our (Z-Hills) C-47. They would probably both have that window I suppose, just too long ago to have a clear memory of where I was when I shot those photos and I don't have them anymore to refer to.
Someone should put Mr. D back in service. You don't see many these days though we do have one based at West Palm International that flys around the County regularly. Don't know who owns it or what it does here.
-----------------------
Roger "Ramjet" Clark
FB# 271, SCR 3245, SCS 1519
BillyVance 34
QuoteQuoteQuoteQuoteQuote
Someone should put Mr. D back in service. You don't see many these days though we do have one based at West Palm International that flys around the County regularly. Don't know who owns it or what it does here.
I would like to see Mr D flying again. Wonder how much it would cost to fix it? Too much, I'd guess, since it's been sitting there for at least 5 years, give or take."Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban
jonstark 8
I would like to see Mr D flying again. Wonder how much it would cost to fix it? Too much, I'd guess, since it's been sitting there for at least 5 years, give or take.
Wanna make a small fortune?
Start with a big one, restore a DC-3 and try flying for profit.
Aviatin' don't pay beans. How many are willing to pay $75 for a jump outta Mr D?
It belongs to a guy who operates a club sort of thing that does nostalgia flights. It is now plain aluminum with some crummy green stripes and "Rose" painted on the side of the fuselage.
I was flying Joe Crotwell's King Air in and out of Corona for a few years and went over to talk to the folks around the Rose a few times ... but they were just a bunch of assholes ... and poor old Rose isn't in anywheres near the shape she was in when Ken Spiva owned her.
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