QuickPic: Restored Rutan Boomerang At Oshkosh 2011 (+ Video)
Saturday, August 13, 2011 at 08:57PM 
Click the pic to see it over at flickr - or click this link to see it there in its largest size
Burt Rutan designed and built the Boomerang in the mid 1990's as a way to make a twin engine tractor aircraft fly almost as easily on one engine as it does on two. The very asymmetrical airframe actually helps the airplane fly nearly as if the engines were both mounted on the centerline. While Burt considers this airplane to be one of his greatest accomplishments, the airplane sat for many years after Burt lost his medical certificate. But the Boomerang was recently resurrected by a team of volunteers headed up by Tres Clements (who works at Scaled Composites) and the airplane was a huge hit at Oshkosh 2011.
For many people at OSH, seeing the Boomerang was a real blast from the past, and for many others it was their first look at one of the few airplanes designed by Burt that is actually very conventional in its main-wing-forward and tail in the rear design. I sure got a lot of pictures of the airplane on the ground... but I didn't do a very good job of getting it in the air at OSH. Fortunately, a friend of mine from Canada (flickr: Eyeno) captured this great image of the Boomerang in the air.
I'm hoping to get a lot more details on the airplane's design features, the way it flies, and the restoration process sometime in the coming months... stay tuned : )
(QuickPic image from flickr.com/photos/eyeno - more great pix over there!)
I found a short video on youtube taken from inside the Boomerang at Oshkosh when it and the Catbird went out on a photoshoot. It's pretty cool to see the takeoff looking over the shoulder of pilot Mike Melvill.
Reader Comments (2)
You can now embed the video if you like. Sorry about the setting restriction!
errrplane- Thanx for changing the video settings (and letting me know), and for sharing part of your awesome ride in the Boomerang!