Scaled Composites was established in 1982 and purchased by the Beech Aircraft Corporation in 1985, as a result of the collaboration on the Starship project. In 1988, Beech's parent company, Raytheon, sold Scaled back to Rutan, who then sold it to Wyman-Gordon. After Wyman-Gordon was acquired by Precision Castparts Corp., Rutan and ten investors re-acquired the company as Scaled Composites, LLC. Northrop Grumman, a major shareholder in the company with a 40% stake, said it would acquire the company outright on July 20, 2007.[1] Both companies said Northrop Grumman's acquisition would not affect Scaled Composites' strategy or involve replacing Burt Rutan as senior manager.[2] The acquisition by Northrop Grumman was completed on August 24, 2007.[3] Rutan retired in April 2011.[4] Ben Diachun, a long time employee, was president of Scaled from Oct 31, 2015,[5] until April 2019.[6][7] Cory Bird, another long-time employee, became president of Scaled in April 2019.[8]
Early projects
Before forming Scaled Composites, Burt Rutan had designed several aircraft for amateur builders, including the VariEze, often considered one of general aviation's most innovative designs.[9][10]
He also designed the Beechcraft Starship, which was a commercial failure. These aircraft were distinctive because of their canard configuration, winglets and pusher propellers.
In 2005, the single-jet GlobalFlyer was flown by billionaire adventurer Steve Fossett on the first solo non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world, and later in the longest flight in history: 41,467.53 km (25,766.73 mi). It had been designed by Rutan, with aerodynamics by John Roncz, and built by Scaled Composites.[11] as the Model 311.
Although their role was not widely publicized, Rutan and Roncz, who had provided aerodynamics support to a number of previous Rutan projects including Starship, helped design, and Scaled Composites manufactured, the double slotted wing mast for the Stars & Stripes catamaran for Dennis Conner's entry in the 1988 America's Cup.[12]
The White Knight carries SpaceShipOne on Flight 16P September 29, 2004.(L to R) Marion Blakely, FAA - Chief. Commercial Astronaut- Michael Winston "Mike" Melvill - Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson - Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan - William Brian Binnie & Paul Gardner Allen reflect on a mission accomplished (October 4, 2004)
The company announced in April 2003 that it was working on a privately funded spacecraft, in an attempt to win the Ansari X PRIZE for the first private crewed spaceflight. This experimental rocket-powered spacecraft was given the name SpaceShipOne. On December 17, 2003, they announced SpaceShipOne's first supersonic flight, the first flight of its kind by a privately funded aircraft. SpaceShipOne successfully made this flight, reaching 68,000 feet (21,000 m) and 930 mph (Mach 1.2). The craft was taken aloft by the White Knight carrier aircraft. On the same day, Paul Allen, one of the founders of Microsoft, confirmed publicly the rumors that he was the angel investor behind the SpaceShipOne venture.
On April 1, 2004, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued the company what it called the world's first license for a sub-orbital crewed rocket flight.[13] The license was approved by the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation, which has backed licenses for more than 150 commercial launches of uncrewed launch vehicles in its 20 years, but never a license for crewed flight on a sub-orbital trajectory. The Mojave Airport, operating part-time as Mojave Spaceport, is the launch point for SpaceShipOne. SpaceShipOne performed the first privately funded human spaceflight on June 21, 2004. Flight 16P on September 29, 2004, and Flight 17P on October 4, 2004, won the X-Prize for Scaled Composites and SpaceShipOne.
Scaled Composites Model 351 (nicknamed the "Roc") was built for Stratolaunch Systems to provide a platform from which air-launch space missions can be staged.[14]
In August 2015, Scaled Composites president Kevin Mickey stated the company had so far assembled "roughly 200,000 pounds of composite structure" for the vehicle and if put on a football field, "its wingtips would extend beyond the goalposts by 15 feet on each side."[15]
Each of the twin fuselages of the aircraft is 238 feet (73 m) long and is supported by 12 main landing gear wheels and two nose gear wheels. It requires 12,000 feet of runway to lift-off.[16]
Rutan Aircraft Factory aircraft
Rutan Aircraft's first – Model 32 VariViggen (1972)Rutan Model 61 Long-EZ
Burt Rutan created Rutan Aircraft Factory to market a commercial variation of his Model "VariViggen" prototype" he began building in his garage in 1968 which he called The Model 32, also known as the VariViggen SP. This model utilized a slightly longer fuselage, larger span and winglets in order to increase efficiency. Within 8 years after its founding, this company became one of the world's important aircraft design and prototyping companies.[17] The Rutan Aircraft Factory sold over 600 plan sets for the VariViggen to homebuilders, and eventually about 20 of the aircraft were built. Following the crash of one in New Brunswick, Canada, in September 2006 due to wing tank fuel contamination,[18] fewer than five are currently still flying. The prototype aircraft, N27VV, was donated to the EAA AirVenture Museum in 1988.
Beechcraft 2000 Starship, based upon the Model 115
A rendering of the US Air Force blended wing body aircraft project; 4-year contract awarded to JetZero in August 2023, will be built in collaboration with Northrop Grumman subsidiary Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites will work with JetZero in helping to develop a prototype blended wing body Z-5 demonstrator tanker aircraft Next Generation Air-Refueling System (NGAS) for the US Air Force.[23]
On October 31, 2014, the SpaceShipTwoVSS Enterprise broke apart during an in-flight powered test. The incident killed one pilot and severely injured the other, resulting in the total loss of the vehicle; both pilots were Scaled Composites employees.[25][26] On July 28, 2015, the NTSB released the final report on its investigation of the incident, concluding that for an unknown reason the pilot had released the "Feather" of SpaceShipTwo prematurely, leading directly to the craft's disintegration.[27]
^Drew, James (October 23, 2015). "Scaled president appointed VP of advanced design at Northrop". FlightGlobal.com. Retrieved May 5, 2019. Long-time Scaled vice-president of engineering, Ben Diachun, has been named to fill the vacancy of president effective 31 October
^"Urban Air Mobility Startup Opener Hires Key Execs for Future Blackfly eVTOL". CleanTechnica. April 11, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2019. Ben Diachun is an industry veteran and innovator who is also now Opener's President. Diachun comes from Scaled Composites and worked with the late Paul Allen on designing and flying the experimental air-launched rocket-powered aircraft SpaceShipOne.
^"OPENER Names Ben Diachun President". GlobeNewswire News Room (Press release). April 2, 2019. Retrieved May 5, 2019. As OPENER's President, my goal is to take what has been accomplished by this amazing team to the next level, and successfully bring a safe and affordable flying vehicle to market.
^Fisk, Peter (2011). Creative Genius: An Innovation Guide for Business Leaders, Border Crossers and Game Changers. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN978-0-85708-023-3.
^Belfiore, Michael (January 23, 2012). "Burt Rutan on Designing the World's Largest Aircraft". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved January 20, 2012. In 1991, to address a requirement to launch a booster heavier than 500,000 pounds, [Rutan] did the Model 205 and 206 preliminary designs.
^Mojave Air and Space Port press conference on Friday 31 October 2014 at 2:00pm PDT – involving: the Spaceport, Scaled, Virgin Galactic, County Fire Department, Sheriff's Department
