No, it was originally built as a proof of concept/materials and engineering test bed for future government programs. If it hadn't gained the weight, the program would have likely come to a catastrophic end.
Hate to disagree with you Henning but this is not correct. The Starship was intended as a production aircraft from the start. The weight gain resulted from the carbon airframe not breaking during static and fatigue testing. The FAA kept saying it had to break, and material was removed from the design to make that happen. Once it did break the FAA wasn't happy, and the resultant redesign added half a ton.
I did not work Starship when I was at Beech, but I worked with several guys who did, and the word was that only 35 were produced, not the 53 claimed. Starship and the Piaggio Avanti were too unconventional in a world that cherishes convention - Piaggio persevered, and with help from Ferrari has made a great resurgence but the running gag at Beech was that Sheldon Blue had been given an unlimited budget to make the Starship work, and he exceeded it.
The then 'Super' King Air 350 was a superior aircraft in all operational terms, but some folks initially liked the quiet cabin, the glass cockpit and futuristic lines of the Starhsip better, just not enough of them.
The real mistake was trying to take anything to production that Burt had a hand in designing. The man is a visionary but his designs have zero record of success in commercial terms in the certified world (Visionaire, Starship, Toyota, the V-Jet/V-Jet II, Adam M-309).
Don't get me wrong, I like the EZ's and his other menagerie birds as much as the next guy, his moldless foam core technique revolutionized homebuilt aviation, but the track record for real aircraft companies using his designs is terrible.
'Gimp
