Victor, the Rutan Aircraft Flying Museum has been planning very similar event that’s really the next step in the evolution of the RAF-M. I was going to wait to announce this until we got closer to getting up and running but your post is a
perfect opportunity:
The Rutan Aircraft Flying Experience RAF-E
With a fleet of at least one flying example of Burts legacy homebuilt designs we’ll start a tour around the country and hit all the major aviation events.
This is going to be way cool! Imagine a LongEZ, Varieze, Quickie, VariViggen and Defiant all arriving in formation. At some events we’ll even have our Solitaire. There will be flying demonstrations, giving rides and supporting the mission
which is to educate the public about these airplanes, their performance, operation, building with composites and the great community of people you join when you’re involved with Rutan airplanes.
I constantly get asked “Where is your museum?” and I reply, “Its not a place, it’s a thing, it’s a FLYING Museum, we come to you.” The RAF-E is what this is all about.
We’ve made great progress and had the following donations: a flying LongEZ, 1 flying Varieze and two projects, a project Quickie, a Defiant project and one that almost flew but needs a lot of work. I also have the CozyJet to help promote
the RAFM. We’ve a sponsor group in the Detroit area that is supporting the LongEZ and getting it back in the air. I’ve started a Sponsor group in the Houston to get the Varieze flying. Things are happening! What we need more than anything is PEOPLE because
no matter how great a Pilot I think I am, I can't fly all these all at the same time by myself!
Victor, your idea and the RAF-E sound like a perfect match. Anyone that is remotely interested in becoming an aircraft sponsor or Pilot, or get involved with your own plane please contact us!
Ryszard Zadow
Pres. Rutan Aircraft Flying Museum
Hello All,
A few years ago we talked about this but it never happened. Is it possible to make this happen in 2017 or 2018? The idea is that we lay out a route of flight touring the lower 48 states.
The legs would be published and individuals would be able to join one, all or as many legs as they wanted to fly. By putting a really large group together for certain key legs we could use media to bring attention to canard aircraft and increase our numbers.
To make up for weather delays we could have key cities that take up a couple of days. For example New Orleans. I doubt if many of you (I'm including myself) would be legal to fly the next morning after a night on Bourbon Street for example.
Each leg would have a team leader to brief the group on the route, TFR's, and any other pertinent information. General public should be allowed to meet the group and see the airplanes close
up. What would it be like to see a group of 100 canards fly into a place? How could we make this happen and is there enough interest to do it?
Victor Taylor
Velocity N93DV
