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More than a dozen innovative aircraft designs have sprung from the mind of Burt Rutan. After early work as a flight test engineer, then a designer for Bede Aircraft, Rutan formed his own company in the mid-1970s. He was a pioneer in the use of composite materials such as fiberglass and later formed Scaled Composites to produce prototypes for himself and the aerospace industry.
Rutan's Vari Viggen is a tandem, two-seat, wood and fiberglass aircraft, named after the Swedish Saab 37 Viggen fighter aircraft, which served as a partial design inspiration. The Vari Viggen was Rutan's first full-scale design of an aircraft, begun during his years at the California Polytechnic State University. Designed to resists stalls and spins, the craft is a delta-wing canard with twin-tails and winglets. It is powered by a 150-horsepower Lycoming O-320 piston engine mounted as a pusher configuration in the tail. While the Rutan factory sold over 1,000 sets of plans, only approximately 30 were built and very few remain.
The Museum's Vari Viggen was built by Mike and Sally Melvill of Mojave, California. On September 22, 1977, with Mike at the controls, it became the first Vari Viggen to fly after Rutan's own prototype. The Melvills donated the unique aircraft to the Museum in 1987.
A side note: Both Melvills have worked for Rutan for many years. Mike, a longtime test pilot, has the distinction of becoming the first astronaut to fly a private vehicle into space aboard SpaceShipOne on June 21, 2004. Subsequent flights earned the Ansari X-Prize for Scaled Composites and sponsor Paul Allen.
More than a dozen innovative aircraft designs have sprung from the mind of Burt Rutan. After early work as a flight test engineer, then a designer for Bede Aircraft, Rutan formed his own company in the mid-1970s. He was a pioneer in the use of composite materials such as fiberglass and later formed Scaled Composites to produce prototypes for himself and the aerospace industry.
Rutan's Vari Viggen is a tandem, two-seat, wood and fiberglass aircraft, named after the Swedish Saab 37 Viggen fighter aircraft, which served as a partial design inspiration. The Vari Viggen was Rutan's first full-scale design of an aircraft, begun during his years at the California Polytechnic State University. Designed to resists stalls and spins, the craft is a delta-wing canard with twin-tails and winglets. It is powered by a 150-horsepower Lycoming O-320 piston engine mounted as a pusher configuration in the tail. While the Rutan factory sold over 1,000 sets of plans, only approximately 30 were built and very few remain.
The Museum's Vari Viggen was built by Mike and Sally Melvill of Mojave, California. On September 22, 1977, with Mike at the controls, it became the first Vari Viggen to fly after Rutan's own prototype. The Melvills donated the unique aircraft to the Museum in 1987.
A side note: Both Melvills have worked for Rutan for many years. Mike, a longtime test pilot, has the distinction of becoming the first astronaut to fly a private vehicle into space aboard SpaceShipOne on June 21, 2004. Subsequent flights earned the Ansari X-Prize for Scaled Composites and sponsor Paul Allen.
