Burt Rutan
Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan is an American retired aerospace engineer and entrepreneur noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, and energy-efficient air and space craft. He designed the record-breaking Voyager, which in 1986 was the first plane to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. He also designed the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, which in 2006 set the world record for the fastest and longest nonstop non-refueled circumnavigation flight in history. In 2004, Rutan's sub-orbital spaceplane design SpaceShipOne became the first privately funded spacecraft to enter the realm of space, winning the Ansari X-Prize that year for achieving the feat twice within a two-week period.
With his VariEze and Long-EZ designs, which first flew in 1975 and 1979 respectively, Rutan is responsible for helping popularize both the canard configuration and the use of moldless composite construction in the homebuilt aircraft industry, the latter a technique that was adopted in several production and commercial aircraft in the following decades. He is the founder or co-founder of multiple aerospace companies, including the Rutan Aircraft Factory, Scaled Composites, Mojave Aerospace Ventures, and The Spaceship Company.
Rutan has designed 46 aircraft throughout his career, been included in the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World list for the year 2004, been the co-recipient of both the Collier and National Air and Space Museum trophies on two occasions, received six honorary doctoral degrees, and has won over 100 different awards for aerospace design and development. In 1995, he was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame. Rutan has five aircraft on display in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum: the VariEze, Quickie, Voyager, SpaceShipOne, and the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. He is the younger brother of test pilot and United States Air Force fighter pilot Dick Rutan, who piloted many of Burt's earlier original designs on class record-breaking flights.
Life and career
Burt Rutan was born in 1943 in Estacada, Oregon, near Portland, and raised in Dinuba, California. He was one of three children born to George and Irene Rutan. His sister, Nell Rutan, is a former flight attendant for American Airlines. He displayed an early interest in aircraft design. By the time he was eight years old, Rutan was designing and building model aircraft. His first solo flight piloting an airplane was in an Aeronca Champ in 1959, at age 16. In 1965, he graduated third in his class from the California Polytechnic State University with a BS degree in aeronautical engineering.From 1965 to 1972, Rutan was a civilian flight test project engineer for the U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base, working on nine projects including the LTV XC-142 VSTOL transport and spin tests of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II fighter. He left to become Director of Development of the BD-5 aircraft for Bede Aircraft in Newton, Kansas, a position he held until 1974.
In June 1974, Rutan returned to California to establish the Rutan Aircraft Factory. In this business he designed and developed prototypes for several aircraft, mostly intended for amateur builders. His first design, executed while he was still at Bede, was the VariViggen, a two-seat pusher single-engine craft of canard configuration. The canard would become a feature of many Rutan designs, notably the very popular VariEze and Long-EZ. He is also known for using exotic and unconventional materials in his designs. He was the first to use moldless composite construction. According to him, he started his composite work by copying the concept used in the repair of molded European sailplanes. His innovation was the adoption of the method not for repair but to build an aircraft with hotwire wing cores and hand-carved foam for the fuselage box. This method allowed Rutan to build a plane without a mold.
In April 1982, Rutan founded Scaled Composites, LLC, which has become one of the world's pre-eminent aircraft design and prototyping facilities. Scaled Composites is headquartered in Mojave, California, at the Mojave Air & Space Port. That same year, Beechcraft contracted Rutan's Scaled Composites to refine the design and build the prototype Beechcraft Starship.
In 1987, Rutan received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In 1988, he was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum and in 1995, the National Aviation Hall of Fame at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. Rutan was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering in 1989 for leading the engineering, design, construction, and testing of a series of aircraft, including Voyager. In 2004, after SpaceShipOne flew, he was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World" and as Inc. magazine's "Entrepreneur of the Year". In 2005, he received the NAS Award in Aeronautical Engineering from the National Academy of Sciences. In the same year, he was awarded the Robert J. Collier Trophy, which he also obtained in 1986 for his design and development of the Voyager 15.
In 2007, Northrop Grumman became the sole owner of Rutan's Scaled Composites.
In a 2010 Big Think interview, Rutan articulated his motivation for developing suborbital spaceflight technology projects with SpaceShipOne and SpaceShipTwo. In it he said, "we can achieve some breakthroughs", making such flight "orders of magnitude safer and orders of magnitude more affordable. I'm taking this step because I think achieving something that has never existed in manned spaceflight – and that is high volume and public access – I think it is important to do that and to do it as soon as possible."
He retired from Scaled Composites in April 2011. That same year, he received the Daniel Guggenheim Medal and became recognized as a Living Legend of Aviation, receiving the Bob Hoover Freedom of Flight Award from the Kiddie Hawk Air Academy. In 2012, Rutan spoke on "Innovation and the Space Race" to the World Affairs Council, as recorded on C-Span. Flying magazine ranked him at number 18 on their 2013 list, "51 Heroes of Aviation". Rutan was also a recipient of the prestigious Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy in 2015. In 2021, he received his second eponymous Bob Hoover award with the AOPA's R.A. "Bob" Hoover Trophy, given to "people in the industry who have made major contributions over the course of their careers to key areas within general aviation."
In 2022, the Mojave Air and Space Port was given the name "Rutan Field" in honor of the Rutan brothers' contributions to the airport, its board stating that the Rutans' aviation achievements "have played a key role in the evolution of the aerospace industry and the success of the Mojave Air & Space Port organization."
Burt is married to Tonya Rutan and together they have two children.
Aircraft designs
In a 45-year career, many of Rutan's designs have often been quite dissimilar from their predecessors. The Los Angeles Times said of his designs: "His airplanes and spacecraft take on all types of sleek shapes and sizes, looking more like the work of a sculptor than an engineer. In all, Rutan has come up with 367 individual concepts—of which 45 have flown."Homebuilt aircraft
VariViggen and VariViggen SPIn 1968, he began building his first design, the VariViggen, which first flew in April 1972. It had the rear wing, forward canard, and pusher configuration design elements which became his trademarks. In lieu of wind tunnel testing, Rutan developed aerodynamic parameters for the VariViggen using a model rigged atop his station wagon, and measured the forces while driving on empty roads.
The VariViggen was the Rutan model 27. A new set of outer wings, with winglets, was later developed by Rutan for the VariViggen, producing the VariViggen SP, Rutan model 32. The VariViggen was named in honor of the Saab 37 Viggen, a canard-configured fighter jet developed in Sweden. One VariViggen, built in France and named Micro Star, was powered by two Microturbo TRS-18 jet engines in lieu of the usual piston engine.
VariEze and Long-EZ
The VariViggen design led to the successful VariEze homebuilt aircraft designs, in which he pioneered the use of moldless glass-reinforced plastic construction in homebuilts. The prototype, designated Model 31, made its public debut at the 1975 EAA Convention and Fly-In in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. That same year, his brother Dick Rutan set a world distance record in the under-500 kg class in the VariEze, and these aircraft went on to set other world records in this class.
They were also the first aircraft to fly with NASA-developed winglets.
Rutan later revised the VariEze design, providing more volume for fuel and cargo, resulting in the Rutan model 61 Long-EZ, designed to be powered by a Lycoming O-235, although some have used Lycoming O-320s or Lycoming O-360s. The Long-EZ had a range of, over twice that of the VariEze. The Long-EZ also has a revised wing spar design that is not subject to the 2.5 g positive, 1.5 g negative, maximum load factor limit applied to the VariEze after the discovery of problems with some VariEze wings.
Quickie
Rutan was approached by Gene Sheehan and Tom Jewett to develop a single-seat personal sport aircraft. Following a preliminary canard project, a tandem wing configuration was eventually designed, to be powered by an 18 hp Onan industrial engine. The prototype was built in 1977 and registered as N77Q. After 5 months of testing, Quickie Aircraft marketed the aircraft as the Rutan model 54 Quickie in 1978.
Two derivatives of the Quickie were subsequently developed, both expanded to include two seats. Quickie Aircraft had Gary LaGare develop the Q2, while Viking Aircraft developed the Viking Dragonfly.
Solitaire
The 1982 Sailplane Homebuilders Association opened a competition for a homebuilt, self-launching sailplane. Rutan designed the model 77 Solitaire for this competition, which it won. The sailplane was canard-configured, with a retractable engine ahead of the cockpit.