Two years ago volunteers of the Rutan Aircraft Flying Experience pulled together to get a very rare Rutan design ready in time for it’s 50th anniversary. It proved great things can be accomplished when people devote time to a good cause and work as a team. The end result was the worlds only flying Rutan VariViggen, Lady Vi. You may recall howeverthat last year, while enroute to OSH, Lady Vi suffered an engine failure. It was a minor miracle the whole airplane wasn’t lost. Once again though, RAFE Volunteers have pulled off what some thought was not going to be possible and yesterday, Lady VI flew again!
Like in 2022, we have a month to work out all the bugs that come with an airplane being repaired for nearly a year and installing a new, different engine. So far test flights are encouraging and we are very confident AirVenure 2024 and the Rutan Reunion Flight will once again have a VariViggen flying before the crowd at OSH.
RAFE"s goal is to fly at least one example of Burt Rutan’s homebuilt designs and a few more in the airshow at OSH this year, and every year. The logistics of that though is huge. 9 airplanes, 9 pilots, 9 schedules, 9 places to stay at OSH, transportation for 9, coordinating all this, lot’s of gas and a gargantuan effort of many support people.. and now we’re a month from show time! Getting Lady Vi back in the air has been 11 months worth of work that will continue right up to the day we arrive at OSH. It wouldn’t have happened if not for volunteer time, effort, donations and the support of great aviation companies. One way you can help is use the donate button on the RAFE website. As the only 501c3 non-profit dedicated to Burt Rutan’s designs, we do not have a big corporate sponsor and exist strictly from grass roots support, just like what sent Voyager around the world!.
Thank you for your support and see you at OSH!
Ryszard Zadow
President, RAFE
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