Black Square’s ambitious Beechcraft Starship finally has a confirmed release date. Just Flight has announced that the aircraft will be available for Microsoft Flight Simulator on Thursday, June 19th, priced at £39.99 / €44.95 / $54.99. The initial launch will take place exclusively on the Just Flight store, with a broader rollout to other third-party vendors and eventually the in-sim Marketplace expected to follow.
If you’ve been following the development, you already know this is far from a typical aircraft add-on. Black Square has spent the last several months showcasing their meticulous systems modeling, with the Starship packed full of analog instrumentation, custom avionics, and a deep failure simulation system. With this new aircraft add-on, Black Square continues chasing a kind of realism that gets right into the technical guts of the airplane.
The real Beechcraft Starship was also an ambitious design when it launched in the 1980s, with its forward wing, composite structure, and pusher-prop configuration. In flight simulation, however, it’s a relatively uncharted aircraft. Black Square’s version takes this unique platform and overlays it with the developer’s now-signature suite of complex, analog-driven systems.
Getting acquainted: Black Square’s Starship video series
To help simmers prepare for what looks to be one of the most complex GA aircraft in MSFS, Just Flight and Black Square have released a series of videos featuring an in-depth look at the Starship’s systems and operational quirks. The videos, presented by Nick from Black Square, explore core systems and cockpit layout in detail, giving potential buyers a sense of just how involved this aircraft can be.
These tutorials and overviews are probably worth a look even if you’re on the fence. There’s a lot going on under the hood, and this doesn’t seem like the sort of add-on where you just spawn on the runway and go.
Marketplace coming later
While the aircraft will be available on Just Flight’s own storefront at launch, the team has confirmed that it will come to the Marketplace later on. There’s no specific ETA for that just yet, but they’ve said they’ll work to minimize the delay. For now, if you’re eager to get airborne on day one, Just Flight’s site will be the place to go.
