# Rutan Quits the Airplane Business! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 28, 2004, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutan-quits-the-airplane-business/281918 "2004-12-28T12:09:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutan-quits-the-airplane-business/281918/1 "2004-12-28T12:09:00Z")
[A lot of it is a rehash of things he’s aready said](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4119491.stm), but I found one part of it _really_ interesting: > [@](#): > > Rutan, who has been averaging better than one new aircraft design every year for the past three decades, says he is finished with airplanes for a while. That is quite a commitment, I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutan-quits-the-airplane-business/281918/2 "2004-12-28T15:32:52Z")
Well, now that he is building spacecraft, him quiting the aircraft biz doesn’t matter as much. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutan-quits-the-airplane-business/281918/3 "2004-12-28T15:42:32Z")
This is great news! Burt’s my hero. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutan-quits-the-airplane-business/281918/4 "2004-12-28T20:59:50Z")
> [@RandomLetters](#): > > Well, now that he is building spacecraft, him quiting the aircraft biz doesn’t matter as much. I don’t see all that much difference between the process of designing aircraft and designing the kinds of spacecraft he’s known for. (That is, suborbital craft that can make a controlled landing in the Earth atmosphere.) ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutan-quits-the-airplane-business/281918/5 "2004-12-28T21:25:02Z")
Historically this hasn’t been a good move. I mean just look at Jefferson Starship. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutan-quits-the-airplane-business/281918/6 "2004-12-28T22:01:14Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Historically this hasn’t been a good move. I mean just look at Jefferson Starship. Well, sure, but Scaled Composites still has all their original band members. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutan-quits-the-airplane-business/281918/7 "2004-12-28T22:18:26Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Historically this hasn’t been a good move. I mean just look at Jefferson Starship. Which paved the way for the Alan Parsons Project, which I believe was some sort of hovercraft. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutan-quits-the-airplane-business/281918/8 "2004-12-28T22:27:23Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > Which paved the way for the Alan Parsons Project, which I believe was some sort of hovercraft. Woulda been HUGE, too, if not for all the eels. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutan-quits-the-airplane-business/281918/9 "2004-12-29T02:02:11Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > I don’t see all that much difference between the process of designing aircraft and designing the kinds of spacecraft he’s known for. (That is, suborbital craft that can make a controlled landing in the Earth atmosphere.) Yeah, but Rutan’s pretty much said he’s NOT going to stop at suborbital craft. He’s going for the whole enchilada, as it were, LEO, the moon, Mars, you name it. And, he’s smart enough that he just might be able to make a buck or two while doing it.