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77-462: Rutan has indicated that ideas about the project began as early as 1994 and the full-time development cycle time to the 2004 accomplishments was about three years. The vehicle first achieved supersonic flight on December 17, 2003, which was also the one-hundredth anniversary of the Wright Brothers ' historic first powered flight. SpaceShipOne's first official spaceflight, known as flight 15P ,

154-475: 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

231-441: A landing in about 20 minutes. White Knight takes longer to descend, and typically lands a few minutes after SpaceShipOne. Data from astronautix.com General characteristics Performance SpaceShipOne was developed by Mojave Aerospace Ventures (a joint venture between Paul Allen and Scaled Composites , Burt Rutan 's aviation company, in their Tier One program), without government funding. On June 21, 2004, it made

308-494: A nose skid. These are deployed using springs, assisted by gravity. Once deployed, they cannot be retracted inflight. The spacecraft is incapable of independent takeoff from the ground. It requires a launch aircraft to carry it to launch altitude for an air launch . The parts of the craft that experience the greatest heating, such as the leading edges of the wings, have about 6.5 kg (14 lb) of ablative thermal protection material applied. The main ingredient of this material

385-577: A preliminary canard project (model 49), a tandem wing configuration was eventually designed, to be powered by an 18 hp Onan industrial engine. The prototype (Rutan model 54) 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

462-477: A range of 2,010 miles (3,230 km), 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

539-535: A stable glide. (Although this is an interesting comparison of behavior, it is not an entirely fair comparison of design concepts: the Shuttle starts reentry at much higher speed than SpaceShipOne, and so has some very different requirements. SpaceShipOne is more similar to the X-15 vehicle.) An early design called for a permanently shuttlecock-like shape, with a ring of feather -like stabilising fins. This would have made

616-502: A three-surface aircraft (canard, main wing, and tail) and first flew in 1988. After serving as Rutan's personal airplane, it was retired. The Catbird is notable for winning the CAFE Challenge aircraft efficiency prize in 1993. Pond Racer The 1991 Pond Racer was an Unlimited Class racing airplane. Concerned about the dwindling numbers of World War II aircraft , with many being consumed by use as Unlimited Class racers at

693-521: A view of the horizon at all stages of flight. The windows are small compared to the gaps between them, but there are sufficiently many for human occupants to patch together a moderately good view. The nose section can be removed, and there is also a hatch below the rear windows on the left side. Crew ingress and egress is possible by either route. The core of the spacecraft avionics is the System Navigation Unit ( SNU ). Together with

770-670: 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

847-483: Is a hybrid flying car . Announced in July 2011, the twin-pod vehicle has a wingspan of 31 feet 10 inches; with the wings reconfigured (stowed between the pods), the car has a width of 7 feet 11 inches and fits in a single-car garage. The design has two 450 cc four-cycle engines , one in each pod, which power a pair of generators that in turn power the electric motors used for propulsion. " Lithium-ion batteries in

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924-406: Is considerable use of composite materials in the engine design. The oxidizer tank consists of a composite liner with graphite / epoxy over-wrap and titanium interface flanges. The CTN uses a high-temperature composite insulator with a graphite/epoxy structure. Incorporating the solid fuel (and hence the main part of the engine) and the ablative nozzle into this single bonded component minimizes

1001-446: Is expected to have a driving range of 820 miles. It has a claimed electric-only range of 35 miles." Flight controls are in the right pod, road controls (steering wheel and brakes) in the left. Amsoil Racer The Rutan model 68 Amsoil Racer was a racing aircraft of Quickie configuration, built in 1981. It set several speed records, but crashed at the 1983 Reno Air Races and was unsalvageable. Voyager The Rutan model 76 Voyager

1078-445: Is further steepened in the higher part of the trajectory. The maximum acceleration during ascent was recorded at 1.70G. By the end of the burn the craft is flying upwards at some multiple of the speed of sound, up to about 900 m/s (3,000 ft/s) and Mach 3.5, and it continues to coast upwards unpowered (i.e. ballistically ). If the burn was long enough then it will exceed an altitude of 100 km (62 mi), at which height

1155-511: Is married to Tonya Rutan and together they have two children. 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." VariViggen and VariViggen SP In 1968, he began building his first design,

1232-407: Is not considered dangerous, but in both of these flights led to the achievement of a much lower altitude than expected. The details of the flaw are not public. The spacecraft cabin, designed to hold three humans, is shaped as a short cylinder, diameter 1.52 m (5 ft 0 in), with a pointed forward end. The pilot sits towards the front, and two passengers can be seated behind. The cabin

1309-431: Is not throttleable. Once lit, the burn can be aborted, but the power output cannot otherwise be controlled. The thrust in fact varies, for two reasons. Firstly, as the pressure in the oxidizer tank decreases, the flow rate reduces, reducing thrust. Secondly, in the late stages of a burn the oxidizer tank contains a mixture of liquid and gaseous oxidizer, and the power output of the engine varies greatly depending on whether it

1386-494: Is of primary interest during the boost phase of a flight, and the subsonic mode when gliding. The craft has separate upper and lower rudders, and elevons . These are controlled using aviation -style stick and pedals. In supersonic mode the trim tabs are controlled electrically, whereas the subsonic mode uses mechanical cable-and-rod linkage. The wings of SpaceShipOne can be pneumatically tilted forwards into an aerodynamically stable high- drag "feathered" shape. This removes most of

1463-425: Is pressurized, maintaining a sea level breathable atmosphere. Oxygen is introduced to the cabin from a bottle, and carbon dioxide and water vapor are removed by absorbers. The occupants do not wear spacesuits or breathing masks, because the cabin has been designed to maintain pressure in the face of faults: all windows and seals are doubled. The cabin has sixteen round double-pane windows, positioned to provide

1540-425: Is the only part of the craft, other than the fuel and oxidizer themselves, that must be replaced. The solid fuel is cast with four holes. This has the disadvantage that it is possible for chunks of fuel between the holes to become detached during a burn and obstruct the flow of oxidizer and exhaust. Such situations tend to rapidly self-correct. The oxidizer tank is filled and vented through its forward bulkhead , on

1617-399: Is then drop-released, and briefly glides unpowered. Rocket ignition may take place immediately, or may be delayed. If the rocket is never lit then SpaceShipOne can glide down to the ground. This is another major abort mode, in addition to being flown deliberately in glide tests. The rocket engine is ignited while the spacecraft is gliding. Once under power, it is raised into a 65° climb, which

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1694-475: Is using liquid or gaseous oxidizer at a particular moment. (The liquid, being far denser, allows a greater burn rate.) Both the fuel and oxidizer can be stored without special precautions, and they do not burn when brought together without a significant source of heat. This makes the rocket far safer than conventional liquid or solid rockets. The combustion products are water vapour, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, nitrogen, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. The engine

1771-516: The Wright Flyer , Spirit of St. Louis and Bell X-1 . Burt and Dick Rutan, along with Yeager, made headlines for their efforts as the Voyager team and received the 1986 Collier Trophy and Presidential Citizens Medal from President Ronald Reagan . Catbird The Scaled Composites Model 81 Catbird is a five-seat, single-engined pressurized airplane. The airplane was configured as

1848-700: 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

1925-679: The California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo) 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

2002-686: The Flight Director Display ( FDD ), it comprises the Flight Navigation Unit . The unit was developed jointly by Fundamental Technology Systems and Scaled Composites . The SNU is a GPS -based inertial navigation system, which processes spacecraft sensor data and subsystem health data. It downlinks telemetry data by radio to mission control. The FDD displays data from the SNU on a color LCD . It has several distinct display modes for different phases of flight, including

2079-860: 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

2156-627: The Q2 , while Viking Aircraft developed the Viking Dragonfly . Solitaire The 1982 Sailplane Homebuilders Association (Now the Experimental Soaring 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. Grizzly Rutan designed

2233-710: 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 the late 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. Burt Rutan was born in 1943 in Estacada, Oregon , near Portland, and raised in Dinuba, California . He

2310-496: 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,

2387-537: The X-15 than to those of orbiting spacecraft like the Space Shuttle . Accelerating a spacecraft to orbital speed requires more than 60 times as much energy as accelerating it to Mach 3. It would also require an elaborate heat shield to safely dissipate that energy during re-entry. SpaceShipOne's official model designation is Scaled Composites Model 316. The Scaled Composites Model 316 , known as SpaceShipOne ,

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2464-474: The 1980s NASA issued a contract to Ames Industrial Company of Bohemia, New York to develop a small, low-cost aircraft to investigate Robert T. Jones 's (a NASA researcher at NASA's Ames Research Center ) oblique wing concept. Ames turned to Rutan, who designed a small, fiberglass airframe , powered by two Microturbo TRS-18 jet engines. This was the Rutan model 35, the Ames AD-1 . After completion of

2541-471: The Reno Air Races, Bob Pond contracted Rutan and Scaled to design and build an Unlimited Class racer. After design studies, a twin-engined, conventional configured layout was chosen. The aircraft was powered by two 1,000 hp (750 kW) Electromotive-Nissan VG-30 3-liter GTP piston engines running on methanol . The aircraft was built and tested before delivery to the customer. It appeared at

2618-606: 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

2695-410: 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

2772-622: The Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.236 via cp1112 cp1112, Varnish XID 976946298 Upstream caches: cp1112 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 10:50:14 GMT Burt Rutan Elbert Leander " Burt " Rutan ( / ˈ r uː t ən / ; born June 17, 1943) is a retired American aerospace engineer and entrepreneur noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, and energy-efficient air and space craft. He designed

2849-622: 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 (each for his accomplishments with Voyager in 1986 and SpaceShipOne in 2004), 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

2926-491: The atmosphere presents no appreciable resistance, and the craft experiences free fall for a few minutes. While at apogee the wings are reconfigured into high-drag mode. As the craft falls back it achieves high speeds comparable to those achieved on the way up; when it subsequently reenters the atmosphere it decelerates violently, up to 5.75G. At some altitude between 10 km (6.2 mi) and 20 km (12 mi) it reconfigures into low-drag glider mode, and glides down to

3003-428: The atmosphere. It consists of three sets of thrusters: thrusters at each wingtip control roll, at the top and bottom of the nose control pitch, and at the sides of the fuselage control yaw. All thrusters have redundant backups, so comprising twelve thrusters in all. The aerodynamic control surfaces of SpaceShipOne are designed to operate in two distinct flight regimes, subsonic and supersonic. The supersonic flight regime

3080-623: The boost phase, coast , reentry, and gliding. The FDD is particularly important to the pilot during the boost and coast phase in order to "turn the corner" and null rates caused by asymmetric thrust. A mix of commercial and bespoke software is used in the FDD. Tier One uses a hybrid rocket engine supplied by SpaceDev , with solid hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB, or rubber ) fuel and liquid nitrous oxide oxidizer . It generates 88 kN (20,000 lb f ) of thrust, and can burn for about 87 s (1.45 min). The physical layout of

3157-516: The canard design was the 1996 Boomerang , perhaps one of the unconventional designer's most unconventional aircraft. The aircraft, the Rutan model 202 Boomerang, is an asymmetric twin-engine tractor configuration aircraft with one engine on the fuselage and another mounted on a pod. A November 1996 Popular Mechanics feature article said it "looks more like a trimotor that lost its right boom and engine". BiPod The BiPod , Rutan's latest design in association with his company Scaled Composites,

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3234-578: The coast of California. In December 1986, they took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California and flew around the world (westward) in nine days, fulfilling the aircraft's design goals and setting multiple world absolute flight distance records . The Voyager was retired and now hangs in the Milestones of Flight exhibit in the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) main exhibit hall, with

3311-575: 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

3388-858: 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

3465-416: The end of each wing, with horizontal stabilizers protruding from the tailbooms. It has gear for horizontal landings. The overall mass of the fully fueled craft is 3,600  kg (7,900 lb), of which 2,700 kg (6,000 lb) is taken by the fully loaded rocket motor. Empty mass of the spacecraft is 1,200 kg (2,600 lb), including the 300 kg (660 lb) empty motor casing. Originally

3542-430: The engine is novel. The oxidizer tank is a primary structural component, and is the only part of the engine that is structurally connected to the spacecraft: the tank is in fact an integral part of the spacecraft fuselage. The tank is a short cylinder of diameter approximately 1.52 m (5 ft 0 in), with domed ends, and is the forwardmost part of the engine. The fuel casing is a narrow cylinder cantilevered to

3619-532: The first privately funded human spaceflight. On October 4, it won the US$ 10 million Ansari X Prize , by reaching 100 kilometers in altitude twice in a two-week period with the equivalent of three people on board and with no more than ten percent of the non-fuel weight of the spacecraft replaced between flights. Development costs were estimated to be US$ 25 million , funded completely by Paul Allen . Wright Brothers Too Many Requests If you report this error to

3696-478: 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,

3773-453: 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

3850-483: The ground, attached to White Knight in a parasite configuration, and under White Knight's power. The combination of SpaceShipOne and White Knight can take off, land, and fly under jet power to high altitude. A captive carry flight is one where the two craft land together without launching SpaceShipOne; this is one of the main abort modes available. For launch, the combined craft flies to an altitude of around 14 km (8.7 mi), which takes about an hour. SpaceShipOne

3927-420: The interior of the fairing was painted white, and some small stiffening ribs were added. The craft has a single unsteerable and unthrottleable hybrid rocket motor, a cold gas reaction control system , and aerodynamic control surfaces . All can be controlled manually. See the separate section below concerning the rocket engine. The reaction control system is the only way to control spacecraft attitude outside

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4004-460: 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

4081-495: The model 72 Grizzly to investigate the possibility of a STOL canard aircraft. It was retired after testing in 1982. Lotus Microlight Rutan was approached by Colin Chapman , the founder of Lotus Cars , to design a single-seat ultralight aircraft . Again, a canard configuration was developed, the Rutan model 91. Colin Chapman's death in 1982 brought this project to an end, after the aircraft had flown. Ames AD-1 In

4158-516: The need to control attitude actively during the early part of reentry: Scaled Composites refer to this as "care-free reentry". One of the early test flights actually performed re-entry inverted, demonstrating the flexibility and inherent stability of Burt Rutan 's " shuttlecock " design. This feathered reentry mode is claimed to be inherently safer than the behavior at similar speeds of the Space Shuttle . The Shuttle undergoes enormous aerodynamic stresses and must be precisely steered in order to remain in

4235-510: The nose of each pod will provide power during take off and an emergency backup for landing. With a cruising speed of 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), Scaled says the Model 367 BiPod would have a range of 760 miles (1,220 km)." The plane can fly at 200 miles per hour (320 km/h) which reduces the range to 530 miles (850 km). "Out on the road, this roadable aircraft, which carries 18 US gallons (68 L; 15 imp gal) of fuel,

4312-439: The nozzle protruded from the back, but this turned out to be aerodynamically disadvantageous. In June 2004, between flights 14P and 15P , a fairing was added, smoothly extending the fuselage shape to meet the flared end of the nozzle. On flight 15P the new fairing overheated, due to being black on the inside and facing a hot, black nozzle. The fairing softened, and the lower part crumpled inwards during boost. Following that flight

4389-486: The opposite side of the tank from the fuel and the rest of the engine. This improves safety. It is filled to a pressure of 4.8  MPa (700 psi) at room temperature . The nozzle has an expansion ratio of 25:1, which is optimized for the upper part of the atmosphere. A different nozzle, with an expansion ratio of 10:1, is used for test firing on the ground. The nozzles are black on the outside, but for aerodynamic testing, red dummy nozzles are used instead. The rocket

4466-464: The overall shape is as two conventional planes, with very thin fuselages, side by side and joined at their wingtips, with the cockpit and engines mounted at the point of joining. Although White Knight was developed for certain roles in the Tier One program, it is a very capable aircraft in its own right. Scaled Composites describe it as a "high-altitude research aircraft". SpaceShipOne takes off from

4543-546: The oxidizer is stored under pressure, no pump is required. The tank liner and the fuel casing are built in-house by Scaled Composites . The tank over-wrap is supplied by Thiokol . The ablative nozzle is supplied by AAE Aerospace . The oxidizer fill, vent, and dump system is supplied by Environmental Aeroscience Corporation . The remaining components—the ignition system, main control valve, injector, tank bulkheads, electronic controls, and solid fuel casting—are supplied by SpaceDev . The CTN must be replaced between firings. This

4620-407: The possible leak paths. The oxidizer tank and CTN are bolted together at the main valve bulkhead, which is integrated into the tank. There are O-rings at the interface to prevent leakage; this is the main potential leak path in the engine. The ignition system, main control valve, and injector are mounted on the valve bulkhead, inside the tank. Slosh baffles are also mounted on this bulkhead. Because

4697-515: 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 (342 mph/551 km/h in 67 hours) and longest (25,766 miles/41,466 km) nonstop non-refueled circumnavigation flight in history. In 2004, Rutan's sub-orbital spaceplane design SpaceShipOne became

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4774-406: The same cabin, avionics , and trim system as SpaceShipOne. This means it can flight-qualify almost all components of SpaceShipOne. It also has a high thrust-to-weight ratio and large speed brakes. These features combined allow it to be used as a high-fidelity moving platform flight simulator for SpaceShipOne. White Knight is also equipped with a trim system which (when activated) causes it to have

4851-519: The same glide profile as SpaceShipOne; this allows the pilots to practice for landing SpaceShipOne. The same pilots fly White Knight as fly SpaceShipOne. The aircraft's distinctive shape features long, thin wings, in a flattened "W" shape, with a wingspan of 25 m (82 ft), dual tailplanes, and four wheels (front and rear at each side). The rear wheels retract, but the front ones, which are steerable, are permanently deployed, with small fairings, referred to as "spats", in front. Another way to look at

4928-411: The spacecraft incapable of landing independently, requiring mid-air retrieval . This was deemed too risky, and the hybrid final design manages to incorporate the feathering capability into a craft that can land in a conventional manner. The tiltable rear sections of the wings and the tailbooms are collectively referred to as "the feather". The landing gear consists of two widely separated main wheels and

5005-498: The successful VariEze (pronounced "very easy") 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 (now called AirVenture) in Oshkosh, Wisconsin . That same year, his brother Dick Rutan set a world distance record in the under-500 kg (1100 lb) class in

5082-456: The tank, pointing backwards. The cantilevered design means that a variety of motor sizes can be accommodated without changing the interface or other components. The nozzle is a simple extension of the fuel casing; the casing and nozzle are actually a single component, referred to as the CTN ( c ase, t hroat, and n ozzle). Burt Rutan has applied for a patent on this engine configuration. There

5159-641: The test program, the AD-1 was retired in 1982 and is now on exhibit in the Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, California . ARES The Scaled Composites ARES , also called the "Mudfighter", is a full-size flying and shooting prototype of a lightweight low cost aircraft with a similar ground attack and support role as the A-10 . The aircraft first flew in 1990. Boomerang A departure from

5236-417: The tractor engine was used for take-off and initial climb to altitude, then was shut down. The aircraft was first flown with two Lycoming O-235 engines. After development work, it was reengined with a Continental O-200 (modified to include liquid cooling ) as the pusher engine and a Continental O-240 as the tractor engine. As a proving flight the aircraft made a record setting endurance flight off

5313-446: Was a spaceplane designed to: The fuselage is cigar-shaped, with an overall diameter of about 1.52 m (5 ft 0 in). The main structure is of a graphite / epoxy composite material . From front to back, it contains the crew cabin, oxidizer tank, fuel casing, and rocket nozzle. The craft has short, wide wings, with a span of 5 m (16 ft) and a chord of 3 m (9.8 ft). Large vertical tailbooms are mounted on

5390-493: Was accidentally leaked to Air and Space . If it flew with no thermal protection, the spacecraft would survive reentry but would be damaged. The spacecraft's aerodynamic design has an acknowledged "known deficiency" that makes it susceptible to roll excursions. This has been seen on SpaceShipOne flight 15P where wind shear caused a large roll immediately after ignition, and SpaceShipOne flight 16P where circumstances not yet fully understood caused multiple rapid rolls. This flaw

5467-507: Was capable of 88 kN (20,000 lb f ) thrust and an 87 s (1.45 min) burn. Tier One's launch aircraft, Scaled Composites Model 318 , known as White Knight , is designed to take off and land horizontally and attain an altitude of about 15 km (9.3 mi), all while carrying the Tier One spacecraft in a parasite aircraft configuration. Its propulsion is by twin turbojets : afterburning J-85-GE-5 engines, rated at 15.6  kN (3,500 lb f ) of thrust each. It has

5544-611: 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

5621-625: 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

5698-421: Was one of three children born to George (a dentist) 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

5775-528: Was piloted by Mike Melvill . A few days before that flight, the Mojave Air and Space Port was the first commercial spaceport licensed in the United States. A few hours after that flight, Melvill became the first licensed U.S. commercial astronaut . The overall project name was " Tier One " which has evolved into Tier 1b with a goal of taking a successor ship's first passengers into space. The achievements of SpaceShipOne are more comparable to those of

5852-495: Was the first airplane to fly nonstop, without refueling around the world. Piloted by Rutan's brother Dick and Jeana Yeager the airplane made the round the world flight over 9 days in December 1986. Around-the-world flights had been accomplished by military crews using in-flight refueling . Burt developed a twin-engined (piston engines, one pusher and one tractor) canard-configured design. The pusher engine ran continuously,

5929-470: Was upgraded in September 2004, between flights 15P and 16P . The upgrade increased the oxidizer tank size, to provide greater thrust in the early part of the burn, allow a longer burn, and delay the onset of the variable thrust phase at the end of the burn. Prior to the upgrade the engine generated 76 kN (17,000 lb f ) of thrust and could burn for 76 s (1.27 min). After the upgrade it

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