This aircraft has been a three-year passion project to preserve the legacy of Starship with the generous assistance of the current Starship owners. After a prolonged development period beginning in 1979, the first Starship entered service in 1989. Only 50 airframes were delivered to customers, and six remain airworthy today. Despite being a notable failure, Starship was one of the most groundbreaking designs ever to see production. It was the first certified canard wing aircraft, the first busin... This aircraft has been a three-year passion project to preserve the legacy of Starship with the generous assistance of the current Starship owners. After a prolonged development period beginning in 1979, the first Starship entered service in 1989. Only 50 airframes were delivered to customers, and six remain airworthy today. Despite being a notable failure, Starship was one of the most groundbreaking designs ever to see production. It 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. More so than most rare or aging aircraft, Starship is a flying monument to innovation, ambition and the price paid for being too far ahead of one's time. Black Square’s Starship brings you one of the most technically advanced aircraft simulations for Microsoft Flight Simulator, with over 230 possible failures including new turbine engine failures, an accurate recreation of the one-of-a-kind Collins AMS-850 avionics suite and the most advanced pressurisation and cabin temperature simulations in MSFS. Avionics and instrument panel temperatures are simulated, and require proper management of cooling systems for continued operation. Black Square’s new tablet interface lets you configure all options, manage payload, control failures, and monitor engines, electrical schematics and environmental control systems, all from within the simulator. The failure system allows for persistent wear, MTBF and scheduled failures for nearly every component in the aircraft. The Starship’s electrical system is the most accurate yet for Black Square, featuring the Starship’s implementation of the King Air triple-fed bus layout and back-up batteries for essential avionics. All systems in the Black Square Starship were created with reference to over 10,000 pages of operating handbooks, maintenance manuals, parts catalogues, and electrical schematics. Users may choose whether to fly with modern GPS capabilities that have been added to the original AMS-850, with autopilot coupling to a GNS430 for modern approach, departure and arrival capabilities, or with only the navigational functionality of the original Starship, including VLF and Omega radio navigation. A 190-page manual provides instruction on all equipment and 62 in-game checklists with control/instrument highlighting are included for normal, abnormal and emergency procedures. This simulation was created in partnership with real Starship owners to ensure the legacy of Starship and the operational knowledge lives on for a new generation of Starship admirers. For more information on this aircraft's capabilities and a list of all included avionics and equipment, see the Detailed Description below. Several videos looking in detail at some of the the Starship's features are available in a YouTube Playlist and this PDF lists some Feature Highlights and useful FAQs. You can also take a look at the extensive 190-page Operations Manual (printer-friendly version).
FEATURES OVERVIEWBlack Square’s best aircraft yet will challenge you with unapologetically realistic systems, such as…
190-page manual with your complete guide to flying the Black Square Starship, including systems guide, tutorials, operating limitations, performance tables and electrical schematics.
Tablet Interface for configuring options, payload settings, failure management and real time visualisers for engines, electrical schematics and environmental systems.
One-of-a-kind Collins AMS-850 '14-tube' (CRT) avionics suite and associated line-replaceable-unit failure logic, quirks, eccentricities and never-seen-again features of the first all-glass panel cockpit and flight management system in a business aircraft.
Very Low Frequency (VLF) and Omega radio navigation systems from the pre-GPS era. Configure the aircraft to tune stations on the other side of the globe, and manage six DME receivers to maintain accurate position information in a time before GPS.
Avionics and instrument panel temperature simulation require you to properly manage the equipment cooling systems on the aircraft, or else be faced with electronics and display failures that will necessitate reversionary modes and hardware redundancy.
230+ random, scheduled or performance-triggered failures, settable via the tablet interface, including engine damage, compatible with third party UIs and instructor stations.
Fully simulated environmental control and pressurisation system for heating, air conditioning, ventilation and ram air cooling. Cool things off by opening a door or watch the aircraft heat up in the sun. Monitor via the new tablet interface.
NEW terrain and weather radar technology creates a functioning terrain radar without the use of WASM modules or external desktop software applications. Aircraft pitch, antenna position, transceiver gain, precipitation rate and altitude all influence the radar depiction.
Completely simulated electrical system, with 170+ circuit breakers and failures.
NEW functional windshield wipers clear rain with improved realistic visuals.
Improved turboprop dynamics, including (ITT, TRQ, Ng, FF, FP), hot starts, residual heat, and exhaust back pressure, P2. 5 HP and LP valve simulation and fuel-oil heat exchanger.
Turbine engine failures, such as compressor stall and surging, fuel control failure, fuel filter clogs, propeller governors and fire suppression systems.
FOD damage based on surface type. Use the inertial separators to avoid engine damage. Tablet interface displays the type and intensity of FOD.
NEW physics-driven propeller governor and feathering simulation and beta range from the Black Square Duke
Floppy disk reader for updating navigation databases and reading other data files.
Gyroscope physics simulation for electric and pneumatic gyroscopes with precession and partial failures, based on a coupled quadrature oscillator.
Voltage-based light dimming, an immediately recognisable effect to night-time pilots.
Strobe light system causes realistic distracting flashes in clouds.
St. Elmo’s Fire and static discharge on static wicks and windshields in severe weather. Mathematically accurate VOR and ADF signal attenuation and noise degradation.
Physics-based instrument needles bounce and respond to aerodynamic forces.
Functional exterior elements: chocks, pitot covers, engine covers, gear downlock pins and ground power generator. Pitot cover flags blow in the wind.
Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) simulation and warm-up based on instrument panel temperature. Improper engine management will slowly damage engines to failure. Carbon Monoxide leaks are possible and can be detected with the CO detector. State saving for fuel, radio selection, radio frequency memory, cabin aesthetics etc. Crew/Passenger oxygen depletes according to pressure altitude and passenger occupancy. Ultra-custom dynamic registration number system for livery creators.
ChecklistsOver 600 checklist items are provided for 62 Normal, Abnormal and Emergency procedures in textual form in the manual and in-game, using the MSFS native checklist system with control and instrument highlighting. If it’s in the checklist, it’s settable in the aircraft!SoundsBlack Square’s Starship features a custom soundset created by Boris Audio Works, recorded from the real aircraft. High quality engine and cockpit sounds will immerse you in the simulation. Sounds such as engine starting are not mere recordings, but instead many layered sounds, constructed based on the underlying simulation. Flight DynamicsThe Starship features a flight model with performance to match the real-world aircraft, based on real Starship owner feedback and in-flight data. Engine and aerodynamic performance should be within 2% of POH values, though no two engines are ever the same. The flight model uses the most up-to-date features available in MSFS, such as CFD propeller and stall physics, and SU15 improved ground handling and flexible tyre physics. Engine damage and fouling produces a rough-running engine and decreased performance. INSTRUMENTATION/EQUIPMENT LISTMain Panel
ADC-850 Air Data Computer (ADC) FMC-851A Flight Management Computer (FMC) EDC-850 Engine Data Concentrator (EDC) DAU-850 Data Acquisition Unit (DAU) FCC-850 Flight Control Computer (FCC) DBU-850 Data Base Unit (DBU) RTA-854 Weather Radar (TWR) Angle of Attack Indicator (AOA) Garmin GNS 430 (GNS) HF-9000 High Frequency Communication Transceiver (HF)
Electrical/Miscellaneous
172+ Circuit Breakers Voltmeters & Ammeters Fire Detector & Extinguishers Pneumatic Pressure Indicators Fuel Temperature & Quantity Indicators Oxygen Pressure Indicator Cabin Temperature Indicator Carbon Monoxide Detector
