Burt Rutan

Ed Rasimus wrote:
"Ed Majden" wrote:

In part, I agree but aren't you making an un-fair comparison? Modern
electronics give these new aircraft their superior capability. Don't forget
that the F-104 was designed with 1950's technology. It's just like
comparing TV sets. The old tube designs packed up ever few months where the
new solid state types seem to last forever. I think that Rutan was trying
to point out that airframe wise, there isn't that much of an improvement
with today's designs. He thinks that modern fighters should be much faster
and higher performers than they are. The stealth fighter would be
impossible to fly without the on board flight control computers that control
them. The 104 radar was pretty Mickey Mouse as compared to modern FCS
radars. If fitted with an up-dated system it would still be a high
performer, at least as good as an F-16 I would think. I would hope that
modern aircraft would be more reliable. Any of you pilot types fly both
types?

Well, haven't you made my argument for me? Rutan was indicated as
saying (I didn't see the show, but someone else provided the start of
this thread) that there hasn't been much progress in military aircraft
since the days of the 104.

Here's the quote:

He claimed that the large aircraft
manufacturers aren't being very innovative today. As a test pilot at
Edwards he stated that some of the aircraft he tested in the past out
perform today's modern fighters. The F-104 was one of the examples. He
didn't have anything good to say about the JSF or the F-22 for that matter.
He stated that modern manufactures aren't the innovative risk takers of the
past thus holding back aircraft design technology.

Well, I think we've done a darn good job with regard to thrust/weight,
specific fuel consumption, lift/drag, sustainability of G, agility,
reliability, sensors, weapons, integration, security of comm,
survivability, ECM, defensive systems, etc. etc.

Either the aircraft industry has been remarkably progressive, or they
haven't. Can't have it both ways.

I agree with your original assessment (e.g: Rutan is full of bovine
excretement). We've all heard about Rutan's Voyager that
circumnavigated the globe unrefueled back in 1986, however,
the record for the world's longest flight in history (64 days, 22
hours, 19 minutes w/o touching the ground) belongs to two men
flying the venerable old Cessna 172 back in the 1950's...

"To refuel, men in a stake truck would drive a desert road at about
80 mph and, with the plane flying overhead about the same speed,
attach a gas line to a rope thrown from the Cessna. The gas would
then be pumped, a procedure that took only a few minutes. Those on
the ground also would resupply the pilots with food and clothing."

With regards to military A/C, you've said it a million times already
in your outstanding contributions to RAM. Each one of your posts
is chock full of information and you've clearly explained why each
successive generation of fighter and attack aircraft has been a vast
improvement over the previous generation. Rutan is full of bovine
excretement, indeed!

-Mike Marron