The Journey of a 1960s EAFB FTE:from

First post-college Jobto

Old Retired Airplane Developer

Edwards Air Force BaseFlight Test Engineer Reunion

Lancaster, Calif25April2019

By Burt Rutan

1965Half way from Yuri Gagarin to the moon landing.

Accepted EAFB Flight Test Engineer job.$7070/year at an ugly desert.

Why?The best path to be an aircraft designer.

West Ave J-15 rental

Fifty Four Years of ‘Progress’

1965 Edwards Flight Test:Mach Three Bomber and Strike/Recon

2019 Edwards Flight Test:All test aircraft – performance same as 1950s

Priority - Test a software fix for F-35

My Edwards FTE Job1965 to 1972 All during Vietnam

Seven of eight projects were Priority 0-1A

Why we called the B-70 the “Savior”

First EAFB Project, 1965Tri-Service VSTOL Test Team

The ten minute walk from Building 1400

My 14-Month TDY in El Centro

A USAF Air Medal, for a Civilian

Leaving Edwards, 1972

Bede Aircraft, Kansas

“I’ll be back in a year”

Three company priorities – defined and identified, even to equity holders.

1. Employee Fun. Fun always stops before bankruptcy.

2. Fun for employee family members.3. Profit.

Two entrepreneur companies for the full 39 years, with 5 different equity holders - we never

had a quarter without a profit.

World Flight Milestone

Required doubling previous distance record.

Final performance within 1% of plan.

Clear, concise goal

High risk. Ignored regulations.

No customer-driven risk issues.

Two Flights that Excited the Public1) Voyager Round-the-World, Non-Refueled

Two Flights that Excited the Public2) SpaceShipOne, First Non-Government Manned Space Program

• SpaceShipOne Flew Three of the World’s Five Manned Space Flights in 2004.

• Criteria - number of world newspapers that covered the event above-the-fold: SS1’s spaceflight was the world’s #2 news story of 2004.

Rutan’s aircraft designs are numbered. Most of them arepreliminary designs that never got built.

The most recent number is 388 and includesseveral new, unusual eVTOL concepts.

The Forty-Nine Manned Research Aircraft that have been completed and flight tested by RAF & Scaled can now be revealed.

Burt Rutan did the preliminary design on nearly all of these, and the detailed-design on about half of them.

This list does not include un-manned aircraft or those that cannot be legally shown.

Here they are, presented as “flashcards” at low resolution.

Manned Research Aircraft TypesRAF and Scaled companies

#1 VariViggen Homebuilt Model #27 First flight May, 1972

Construction start in 1968

First post-Government job - Bede Aircraft, Newton Kansas1972 to 1974

• The only Rutan designs at Bede were:

• Design #2 BD Trainer ‘truck-a-plane’ ~ Nov, 1972

• Design #3 BD-5J Jet ~Jan, 1973

#4 VariEze Proof of Concept Model #31 RAF May, 1975

Rutan Aircraft Factory Manned First Flights

#5 VariViggen SP Model #32SP Homebuilt July, 1975

Rutan Aircraft Factory Manned First Flights

#6 VariEze Homebuilt Model #33 March, 1976

Rutan Aircraft Factory Manned First Flights

#7 Quickie Homebuilt Model #54 November, 1977

Rutan Aircraft Factory Manned First Flights

#8 Defiant Homebuilt Model #40 June, 1978

Rutan Aircraft Factory Manned First Flights

#9 Long-EZ Homebuilt Model #61 June, 1979

Rutan Aircraft Factory Manned First Flights

#10 AD-1 Model #35 NASA December, 1979

Rutan Aircraft Factory Manned First Flights

• Proof of Concept• 15% scale of a

transonic airliner

#11 Amsoil Biplane Racer Model #68 Mortensen August, 1981

Rutan Aircraft Factory Manned First Flights

#12 Next Generation Trainer Model #73 Fairchild September, 1981

Rutan Aircraft Factory Manned First Flights

• Proof of Concept• 62% scale

#13 Grizzly STOL Model # 72 RAF January, 1982

Rutan Aircraft Factory Manned First Flights

#14 Solitaire Homebuilt Model #77 May, 1982

Rutan Aircraft Factory Manned First Flights

#15 Microlight Model #97 Lotus Motors January, 1983

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#16 StarShip POC* Model #115 Beechcraft August, 1983

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

• Proof of Concept• 85% scale

#17 Voyager Model #76 VAI June, 1984

Rutan Aircraft Factory Manned First Flights

Voyager flew nonstop, non-refueled around the world in December, 1986

#18 Predator Crop-duster Model #120 ATAC Sept, 1984

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#19 CM-44 Model #144 Calif Microwave February, 1987

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#20 ATTT (SMUT) Model #133 DARPA December, 1987

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

• Proof of Concept• 63% scale

#21 Catbird Model #81 RAF January, 1988

Rutan Aircraft Factory Manned First Flights

#22 Triumph LLBJ Model #143 Beechcraft July, 1988

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#23 ATTT SMUT BT Model #133b DARPA Dec, 1988

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#24 ARES Light Attack Model #151 February, 1990

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#25 Lima 1 Lexus engine test Toyota April, 1990

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#26 Pond Racer Model #158 Bob Pond March, 1991

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#27 Lima 2 Model #191 Toyota November, 1991

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#28 EarthWinds Gondola Model #181 November, 1991

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#29 Raptor D-1 Model #226 DOE May, 1993

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#30 Jet LEZ Vantage/ FJ107 Model #61B Aug, 1993

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#31 Raptor D-2 Model #226B DOE August, 1994

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#32 Boomerang Model #202 Burt June, 1996

Rutan Aircraft Factory Manned First Flights

#33 Vantage Model #247 VisionAire November, 1996

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#34 V-Jet II Model #271 Williams International April, 1997

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#35 Global Hilton Gondola Model #257 Dick Rutan Jan, 1998

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#36 Proteus Model #281 Wyman Gordon July, 1998

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#37 Roton ATV Rotary Rocket March, 1999

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#38 Adam 309 Model #309 Adam Aircraft March, 2000

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#39 Rodie LEZ Model #61-C Proprietary Aug, 2001

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

Proprietary

#40 TAA-1 Budgie Toyota May, 2002

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#41 White Knight Model #318 Paul Allen Aug, 2002

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#42 SpaceShipOne Model #316 Paul Allen Aug, 2003

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#43 GlobalFlyer Model #311 Marathon March, 2004

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#44 Pulse-Detonation LEZ Model #61PD 2007

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#45 WhiteKnightTwo Model #348 Virgin Galactic Dec, 2008

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#46 Old School Model #355 NGC Feb, 2010

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#47 SpaceShipTwo Model #339 Virgin Galactic October, 2010

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#48 BiPod flying car Model #367 In-house March, 2011

Scaled Composites: Manned First Flights

#49 SkiGull Model #375 Rutan Designs Idaho Nov, 2015

Rutan Aircraft Factory Manned First Flights

A Career of 49 Manned Research Aircraft Projects

Spent 46 years in the Antelope ValleyNever saw an antelope

All projects were done by very small teams

Seven aircraft in SmithsonianNational Air & Space Museum

Two Collier TrophiesTwo SETP Doolittle Trophies

Lesson Learned:Informal chats are more effective than formal meetings

Lesson Learned:Seek out the Experienced; learn from them.

Lesson Learned:Seek out the Experienced; learn from them.

Lesson Learned:Seek out the Experienced; learn from them.

Lesson Learned:Promotion and Advertising. The Most effective ones are free

Lesson Learned:Involve Family in work successes

Questions?

The Four Billionaires that Love Manned Spaceflight

• All four were kids during Apollo.• What can you see in your lifetime? No clue.• Most impressive accomplishment: Musk and

Bezos achieved booster-reuse breakthroughs.• Allen & Bezos have a Collier Trophy.• Only Allen has flown humans above 100 km.

• Musk flew his car beyond Mars, but no human spaceflight.

• All but Allen have spent Billions during the last 18 years, working at a slow pace.

• A First - Allen made a Profit on his 3-year SS1 program!• 45 % - Ten M$ X-Prize cash.• 65+ % from Branson contracts.

“If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”-Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Managers:Want Innovation? Do not “manage”

An Observation:Technical excellence and ability to motivate youth depends on breakthroughs

• Technical Courage and Accomplishments motivates all age groups to build on the success.

• American University Doctorates in Science/Engineering:

– Five years after Apollo 11 – US was First in the world

– Now – we are about 37th

Rights Reserved Do not copy or distribute without permission

Some Specifics

• Do not allow someone to design a component unless he is capable of going to the shop and building it himself.

• Important specific technical problems should be solved by small, dedicated, empowered interdisciplinary teams that have freedom to work without the normal company restrictions.

• Do not stifle creative designers; free them from your bureaucratic structures so they can focus on the goal. Let them know you trust and appreciate them. Give them ownership of the design.

More Specifics

• Only pilots with test experience should be responsible for aircraft configuration design.

• Focus on the Goal. Identify things being done that are not Goal critical. Get rid of all of them. They impede your best performers.

• Maintaining status quo is not leadership. A great leader never leaves things as he found them.

• Above all - Question, never Defend.