In an article on JustFlight.com, Black Square’s lead developer, Nick Cyganski, details the development progress and previews the flight deck and exterior of the upcoming Starship for Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Conceived in the 1980s with help from legendary aircraft designer Burt Rutan’s company, Scaled Composites, the twin-pusher turboprop was originally intended to be a successor to Beechcraft’s successful King Air line. The Starship brought many firsts to general aviation. As Nick points out: “[The Starship] was the first certified canard wing aircraft, the first business aircraft with an all-composite structure, the first certified twin pusher turboprop, the first general aviation aircraft with an all-glass cockpit, and it remains one of only three civilian turboprops with a service ceiling of 41,000 feet.”
Black Square originally announced the development of the iconic twin turboprop two years ago. However, in the intervening years, development instead focused on releasing SEVEN other Black Square aircraft. Only recently, following the release of the Turbine and Piston Dukes, has Nick’s focus returned to the Starship. However, as Nick explains, each release provided a stepping stone to hone the skills required for the Starship and to improve the in-sim technology, such as Black Square’s tablet interface, for the upcoming release.
During the recent development push, Black Square updated the Starship’s graphical standards and model, rewrote the code to simulate more systems, and began working on the unique AMS-850 avionics suite. Interestingly, Nick points out that the Starship prototype that flew in 1986 had no GPS receiver but instead used navigation aids, augmented by user input, to generate positional estimates. This pre-GPS navigation system will be available in the Black Square Starship for MSFS, along with the option of more modern navigation capabilities, too.
As we’ve seen with Black Square’s previous releases, the Starship for MSFS will feature immense attention to detail. For example, the aircraft’s cathode ray tube (CRT) avionics will take time to warm up and the electronics powering the flight deck will produce heat that can be monitored and dissipated through the tablet interface. The aircraft will also feature 230+ possible failures and 172 circuit breakers, making it the most complex Black Square aircraft yet.
While the real Starship was never a commercial success with only 53 airframes built and less than 30 delivered to customers, Nick sees digitally preserving the legendary aircraft for the future as a worthwhile pursuit. He concludes the article by writing: “With only five Starships still airworthy, I feel honoured to preserve the fleet digitally for the next generation of Starship admirers. With flight simulators, we have the opportunity to preserve more than just the facade of an aircraft, but also the systems and the skills required to manage them. With any luck, my efforts will also introduce those who otherwise wouldn’t have heard of this magnificent airplane to one of the most revolutionary flying machines ever built.”
Be sure to stay tuned to FSElite for more details about Black Square’s Starship as they become available.
