Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan (born June 17, 1943 in Estacada, Oregon) is an American aerospace engineer noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, energy-efficient aircraft. He is most famous for his design of the record -breaking Voyager, which was the first plane to fly around the world without stopping or refueling, and the suborbital rocket plane SpaceShipOne, which won the Ansari X-Prize in 2004. From http://www. ... June 17 is the 168th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (169th in leap years), with 197 days remaining. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... Sculpture in front of City Hall in downtown Estacada Estacada is a city located in Clackamas County, Oregon, roughly 30 miles southeast of Portland. ... Aerospace engineering is the branch of engineering that concerns aircraft, spacecraft, and related topics. ... Airbus A380 An aircraft is any machine capable of atmospheric flight. ... Voyager returning from its flight The Voyager aircraft was the first to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. ... A sub-orbital spaceflight (or sub-orbital flight) is a spaceflight that does not involve putting a vehicle into orbit. ... A rocket plane is an aircraft that uses a rocket for propulsion, sometimes in addition to jet engines. ... SpaceShipOne is small, having a three-person cabin and short but wide wings. ... The X prize logo shows a stylised letter X representing a spacecraft trajectory and containing a starfield. ...

Biography

Born in Estacada, Oregon, 30 miles southeast of Portland, and raised in Dinuba, California, Rutan displayed an early interest in aircraft design. By the time he was eight years old he was designing and building model aircraft. His first solo flight in a real plane was an Aeronca Champ in 1959, when he was sixteen. In 1965 he graduated third in his class from California Polytechnic University with an aeronautical engineering degree. Sculpture in front of City Hall in downtown Estacada Estacada is a city located in Clackamas County, Oregon, roughly 30 miles southeast of Portland. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Roses, Stumptown, Bridgetown Location Location in Multnomah County and the state of Oregon Coordinates , Government Country State County United States Oregon Multnomah County Mayor Tom Potter Geographical characteristics Area     City 145. ... Dinuba is a city in Tulare County, California, United States. ... California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (or Cal Poly for short) is a public university located in San Luis Obispo, California. ... Aerospace engineering is the branch of engineering concerning aircraft, spacecraft and related topics. ...

From 1965 to 1972 Rutan worked for the U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base as a flight test project engineer, working on nine separate projects including fighter spin tests and the XC-142 VSTOL transport. Shortly after, he became director of the Bede Test Center for Bede Aircraft, in Newton, Kansas, a position he held until 1974. Seal of the Air Force. ... Edwards Air Force Base is a USAF airbase located on the border of Kern County and Los Angeles County, California in the Antelope Valley, 7 miles (11 km) due East of Rosamond, USA at 34°57′ N 117°52′ W. An airbase since 1933, Edwards has long been a home... V/STOL is an acronym for Vertical/Short Take-Off and Landing. ... Bede Aircraft was founded by controversial aeronautical engineer Jim Bede in 1961 to produce the BD-1 kit aircraft. ... Newton is a city and county seat of Harvey County, Kansas. ...

Rutan struck out on his own in June of 1974 with the creation of the Rutan Aircraft Factory in the Mojave Desert, where he designed and developed prototypes for a number of aircraft, mostly homebuilt. His first design was the Rutan VariViggen, a two-seat pusher with a canard in front. The canard was later to become a standard feature in most Rutan designs. In April 1982, Burt 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. Scaled Composites (often abbreviated as Scaled) was founded in 1982 in Mojave, California by famous aircraft designer Burt Rutan out of what used to be the Rutan Aircraft Factory. ... Looking across from Emigrant Pass towards the Kingston Range in the eastern Mojave. ... Also known as amateur-built aircraft, homebuilt aircraft are constructed by one or more persons for whom this is not a professional activity. ... VariViggen is a plane designed by Burt Rutan, he named it after Swedish fighterplane Saab Viggen. ... In aeronautics, canard (French for duck) is a type of fixed-wing aircraft in which the tailplane is ahead of the main lifting surfaces, rather than behind them as in conventional aircraft. ... Scaled Composites (often abbreviated as Scaled) was founded in 1982 in Mojave, California by famous aircraft designer Burt Rutan out of what used to be the Rutan Aircraft Factory. ... Mojave is a town located in Kern County, California. ...

Rutan is currently married to Tonya Rutan, his fourth wife.. Elbert L. Burt Rutan (born June 17, 1943) is an aircraft designer known for designing light, strong, unusual-looking, energy-efficient aircraft. ...

Aircraft designs

Over the years Burt Rutan has designed hundreds of aircraft, including the now-famous Voyager, which was piloted by Dick, his brother, and Jeana Yeager in 1986 on a recordbreaking nine-day non-stop flight around the world. Voyager returning from its flight The Voyager aircraft was the first to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. ... Richard “Dick” Rutan (born July 1, 1938) is an aviator who is most famous for flying the Voyager aircraft around the world non-stop with the assistance of Jeana Yeager. ... Categories: Stub | 1952 births | American aviators ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1986: Events January January 9 - the UK Defence Secretary, Michael Heseltine, resigns amidst a political furore over the future of Westland Helicopters. ...

He made headlines again in 2004 with SpaceShipOne, which became the first private/privately funded craft to reach space in June of that year and win the Ansari X Prize a few months later on October 4. SpaceShipOne completed 2 flights within 2 weeks, flying with the equivalent weight of 3 persons and doing so while reusing at least 80% of the vehicle hardware. The craft displays Rutan's unique form of design and aircraft concept. This achievement quickly turned to commercial success. Virgin Galactic, an offshoot of Virgin Airlines, has announced that it will begin space tourism flights in 2008 using craft based on the designs of SpaceShipOne. Dubbed SpaceShipTwo, these new craft, also designed by Burt Rutan, will allow 20 "experience optimized" passengers to glimpse the planet from 70-80 miles in suborbit. Production of the first of five planned SpaceShipTwo crafts is expected to start in late 2005, with the first test flights in 2007. Passengers are expected to fly in late 2008 or early 2009. SpaceShipOne is small, having a three-person cabin and short but wide wings. ... The X prize logo shows a stylised letter X representing a spacecraft trajectory and containing a starfield. ... October 4 is the 277th day of the year (278th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Virgin Galactic is a spaceline in Sir Richard Bransons Virgin Group, which plans to offer sub-orbital spaceflights and later orbital spaceflights to the paying public. ... Space tourism is the recent phenomenon of space travel by individuals for the purpose of personal pleasure. ... SpaceShipTwo is a suborbital spaceplane currently under development by The Spaceship Company, a joint venture between Scaled Composites and Sir Richard Bransons Virgin Group of the UK, as part of the Tier 1b program. ...

Burt Rutan is also working with Transformational Space Corporation in the development of an air launched, two stage to orbit, manned spacecraft. It is intended to have a taxi capacity to carry passengers to the International Space Station. As of June 2005, air drop tests of quarter scale mockups had verified the practicality of air release and rotation to vertical. A Boeing X-43 being air launched from under the wing of a B-52 Stratofortress. ... International Space Station insignia ISS Statistics Crew: 3 As of July 6, 2006 Perigee: 352. ... 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Some of his other designs include the Raytheon Beechcraft Starship, the Proteus high-altitude long-endurance aircraft, the Ares military jet, the remarkably asymmetrical Boomerang, as well as small, light, general-aviation aircraft such as the VariEze, Long-EZ, Quickie, Quickie 2, and Defiant. Raytheon Company NYSE: RTN is a major United States military contractor based in Waltham, Massachusetts. ... The Beech Aircraft Corporation, purchased by Raytheon Aircraft on February 8, 1980, and often called Beechcraft after the name they give their aircraft, is a manufacturer of general aviation and military aircraft, ranging from light single engine aircraft to business jets and light military transports. ... Beechcraft 2000 Starship (NASA) Beechcraft Starship (NASA) The Beechcraft Starship is a futuristic-looking aircraft designed by Burt Rutans Scaled Composites and produced by the Beech Aircraft Corporation. ... Proteus in flight The Scaled Composites Model 281 Proteus is a tandem-wing high-endurance aircraft designed by Burt Rutan to investigate the use of aircraft as high altitude telecommunications relays. ... Scaled Composites Model 202 Boomerang The Scaled Composites Model 202 Boomerang is an aircraft designed by Burt Rutan, and built by his company, Scaled Composites. ... The Rutan Model 31 VariEze is a composite, canard aircraft designed by Burt Rutan. ... Categories: Aircraft stubs | Homebuilt aircraft ... A Quickie Q2 at the 2003 Arlington EAA Fly-In. ... A Quickie Q2 at the 2003 Arlington EAA Fly-In. ... The Rutan Defiant is a four-seat, twin-engine aircraft with one propeller in front and one in the rear. ...

On March 3, 2005, the GlobalFlyer, an aircraft similar to the Voyager design but with stiffer materials and a jet engine, completed the first solo non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world. Steve Fossett was the pilot. Between February 7, 2006 – February 11, 2006, Fossett and GlobalFlyer set a record for the longest flight in history: 26,389.3 miles. March 3 is the 62nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (63rd in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The aircraft in its hangar in Mojave. ... A Pratt and Whitney turbofan engine for the F-15 Eagle is tested at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, USA. The tunnel behind the engine muffles noise and allows exhaust to escape. ... Steve Fossett Steve Fossett (born April 22, 1944, in Jackson, Tennessee) is a United States aviator and adventurer known for his appetite to set world records. ... February 7 is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... February 11 is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Awards

(Alphabetical with year(s))

• Aviation Week & Space Technology "Laural Legend" award (2002)
• Aviation Week & Space Technology Hall of Fame (2002)
• Aviation Week & Space Technology Current Achievement Award (2005)
• Chrysler Design Award (1997)
• Collier Trophy for ingenious design and development of the Voyager and skillful execution of the first non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world, (1987)
• Design News Engineer of the Year (1988)
• EAA Outstanding New Design (1975, 1976 and 1978)
• EAA Freedom of Flight Award, (1996)
• EAA Homebuilders Hall of Fame, (1998)
• Engineers Council Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson "Skunk Works" award (2000)
• Grand Medal of the Aero Club of France (1987)
• International Aerospace Hall of Fame {1988)
• SETP James H. Doolittle Award (1987 and 2004)
• Lindbergh Foundation, Lindbergh Award (2000)
• National Aviation Hall of Fame (1995)
• National Medal of the Aero Club of France (1987)
• Presidential Citizens Medal presented by Ronald Reagan (December 29, 1986)
• Professional Pilot Magazine, Designer of the Year, (1999)
• Royal Aeronautical Society, British Gold Medal for Aeronautics (1987)
• SAMPE George Lubin Award, (1995)
• Scientific American Business Leader in Aerospace (2003)
• Time Magazine "100 Most Influential People of the World" (April 18, 2005)
• Western Reserve Aviation Hall of Fame, Meritorious Service Award (1988)

Aviation Week & Space Technology (often abbreviated as Aviation Week or AW&ST) is a weekly magazine which reports upon the state of the aerospace industry. ... The Chrysler Design Awards celebrate the achievements of individuals in innovative works of architecture and design which significantly influenced modern American culture. ... The Collier Trophy is the most prestigious award in the aviation field, given once a year to those that have made the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been... Look up voyager in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... EAA can refer to: Essential amino acids European Athletic Association Experimental Aircraft Association Electric Auto Association European American Armory a gun manufacturer. ... This article is about the aeronautical engineer. ... Skunk works is a term used in engineering and technical applications for secret (black) projects. ... The James H. Doolittle Award is an honor presented annually by the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. ... The National Aviation Hall of Fame is located in Dayton, Ohio and had inducted the following people, arranged in alphabetical order, and each has their year of induction in parentheses. ... The Presidential Citizens Medal is the second highest civilian award in the United States awarded by the President of the United States, second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... Founded in 1866 The Royal Aeronautical Society is the worlds leading authority on aviation. ... Scientific American is a popular-science magazine, published monthly since August 28, 1845, making it the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States. ... (Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ...

References

• Chrysler Design Award webpage
• Online biography
• Biography from House Committee on Science

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