Burt Rutan designed award winning model aircraft as a schoolboy, and learned to fly at age 16. In 1965 he received his aeronautical engineering degree from California Polytechnic University and began his career as a civilian flight test engineer for the United States Air Force. After leaving the Air Force in 1974, Rutan launched his first private company, Rutan Aircraft Factory, to market his light aircraft designs, which included the VariEze, Quickie, and Long-EZ. During this period the concept for the world-flight Voyager aircraft was developed. In 1982 Rutan founded Scaled Composites, Inc., where he developed prototypes of seven aircraft, including the Beech Starship. Rutan's designs are characterized by the use of light-weight composite materials, an innovation which is akin to the transition in aircraft construction from wood and fabric to metal. Rutan made history in December 1986, when his Voyager aircraft became the first aircraft to fly around the world without stops or refueling. Piloted by his brother Dick Rutan, and Jeana Yeager, the craft took off on December 14th from Edwards Air Force Base and landed at that same base 9 days later, after completing a course of 25,012 miles around the world. The Voyager easily surpassed the previous record for unbroken, straight-line flight of 12,532 miles that was set in 1962. The Voyager made its around-the-world journey cruising at an average speed of about 116 miles per hour. The development and historic flight of the Voyager earned Rutan the FAI Gold Medal, the Collier trophy, and the Society of Experimental Test Pilots' Doolittle trophy.
Inducted in 1988.
Portrait Location: Hall of Fame Hallway