Schedule For Burt Rutan at AirVenture 2024 Announced

PRESS RELEASE

The schedule for forums and presentations featuring legendary designer Burt Rutan at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2024 has been finalized, with six events planned over five days from July 22 to 26.

Rutan’s presentations are as follows:

– ** Monday, July 22:** “Life, The Universe, and Everything Else” – 7 p.m., Theater in the Woods
– ** Tuesday, July 23:** “50-Year History of Homebuilt Composite Canards” – 11:30 a.m., Forum Pavilion 7
– ** Wednesday, July 24:** “Commercial Space & WingShips – Arrested in Russia, 1993” – 11:30 a.m., Forum Pavilion 7
– ** Wednesday, July 24:** “Voyager” – 2:30 p.m., EAA Aviation Museum
– ** Thursday, July 25:** “Burt’s New Designs and his Heroes” – 11:30 a.m., Forum Pavilion 7
– ** Friday, July 26:** “Why Beech Did Not Replace King Airs with Starships” – 11:30 a.m., Forum Pavilion 7

All of Rutan’s presentations, as with all EAA AirVenture forums and workshops, are included with regular AirVenture admission. Burt Rutan, an EAA Lifetime member for over 50 years, first made a significant impact at Oshkosh in 1972 with his VariViggen, introducing canard design to the homebuilt community. This innovation led to a series of other Rutan recreational aircraft designs featuring innovative moldless fiberglass construction, including the VariEze and Long-EZ, which are still being built today.

EAA is collaborating with the Rutan Aircraft Flying Experience group to display many of Rutan’s aircraft designs at Oshkosh, especially on Boeing Plaza on Monday, July 22. Rutan’s return to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 2024 coincides with the 50th anniversary of his VariEze canard aircraft design. EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2024 will be held from July 22 to 28 at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh.

“Burt is best known to the public for his historic designs of SpaceShipOne, Voyager, and GlobalFlyer, but for EAA members and aviation aficionados, his unique concepts began more than a half-century ago with fiberglass canard aircraft that revolutionized the amateur-built airplane community,” said Rick Larsen, EAA’s vice president of communities and member programs. “Every time Burt joins us at Oshkosh, his presentations draw big audiences eager to hear his unique perspectives on flight.”

Rutan gained public recognition in the 1980s with his design of Voyager, which in December 1986 became the first aircraft to fly around the world non-stop on a single tank of fuel. This record was surpassed by a similar solo flight of Rutan’s GlobalFlyer in 2005. His legacy was further solidified with the successful flights of SpaceShipOne in 2004, marking the first successful civilian space flight program and earning the $10 million X Prize.

Among Rutan’s other imaginative designs are the unique Proteus, an “affordable U-2 aircraft,” and the asymmetrical twin-engine Boomerang, developed by Rutan’s Scaled Composites in Mojave, California. This company, renowned as a leading aerospace research firm, has developed a variety of groundbreaking projects, from military aircraft to executive jets, showcasing innovative and energy-efficient designs. Rutan has received numerous accolades, including the Presidential Citizen’s Medal, the Charles A. Lindbergh Award, two Collier Trophies, the EAA Freedom of Flight Award, and recognition in TIME Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the world.”

His detailed schedule at AirVenture will be announced as it is finalized. EAA continues to work with the Rutan Aircraft Flying Experience group to showcase Rutan’s aircraft designs at Oshkosh.