Sun-n-Fun is cranking up this week but I’m going to miss it because sometimes work has to come before play. We had lots of work at RAFE ops in Covington TN this week. Curtiss and Sid Mead are about to fly their Varieze so they flew over from Wichita in their RV and got some canard transition training in the Speed Canard.. In two days Rick Finney and I double teamed Curtiss and Sid and got them a bunch of Speed Canard flights. They went home with a much greater appreciation for the challenges ahead for them on their first flights in their Varieze.
Today I spent the day flying with James Bailey who also is about to fly his Varieze. James Varieze just went through refurbishment at Jetguys and he also desired some transition training before hopping in it and flying it home to Nashville. Two Varieze’s are about to take to the skies! How cool is that!
The Canard Flight Academy program of the RAFE is quickly becoming one of the best benefits we could’ve imagined to help the mission of RAFE. The best way to preserve and promote the legacy Rutan designs is to help enable people to fly them proficiently and safely. In the past, hundreds, if not thousands of Rutan builders took off and flew the airplanes they built with little to no transition training and most did well, but we know there’s a better way. Getting some dual in the Speed Canard significantly reduces the risk of those first flights. We’re getting booked up fast so schedule your Canard training by sending us an email through the website and take a look at the Canard Flight Academy page under the Flying tab. Lots of good info there.
One more thing that happened in the last week doesn’t have much to do with flying but is one of the more important objectives we’ve had since the inception of RAFE. Until now RAFE has been a project under the “umbrella” of the first non-profit aviation museum 501C3 that I started almost 8 years ago, the Waller County Aviation Museum. Dealing with the process of getting a 501C3 approved is lengthy and often frustrating so when the idea for RAFE was born it was run under WCAM until we knew it would become a viable standalone entity. It has and finally we have been granted our own 501C3 status. RAFE is independent! Our EIN is 85-5247159.
From an idea that caused many people to think I’ve lost my mind, to a recognized IRS approved 501C3 non-profit that has grown rapidly into a global organization, the Rutan Aircraft Flying Experience continues to grow and live up to its mission of promoting and preserving Burt Rutans legacy homebuilt designs, the homebuilt the led to SPACE! Hope to see y’all around the 2019 flying season!
Ryszard Zadow,
Founder and President,
Rutan Aircraft Flying Experience
www.RutanAFE.org