Burt Rutan is a retired American aerospace engineer noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, energy-efficient aircraft.
He designed the record-breaking Voyager, which in 1986 was the first plane to fly around the world without stopping or refueling, and the sub-orbital space plane Space Ship One, which won the Ansari X-Prize in 2004 for becoming the first privately funded spacecraft to enter the realm of space twice within a two-week period.
With his VariEze and Long-EZ designs, Rutan is responsible for helping popularize both the canard configuration and the use of mold less composite construction in the home built aircraft industry.
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