Rutan/Scaled ARES Spotted: Gray, In The Wild Blue Yonder
Monday, January 2, 2012 at 07:40AM 
Scaled Model 151 ARES in gray paint against a blue Texas sky (photo: Steve Douglass)
The Scaled Model 151 ARES designed by Burt Rutan in the late 80's and first flown in 1990 did a great job of meeting the design goals of a small, inexpensive and agile close air support aircraft... but in the end, only one prototype was built. As is common with Scaled aircraft, the ARES moved past its original intent to be used for any purpose a customer was willing to pay for. That even included being in the 1992 film Aces: Iron Eagle III playing the part of a fictitious version of the Messerschmitt Me 263. And while this unique composite flying machine with the off-center mounted turbofan was sent to storage in 2000, it was seen in 2008 to be back in the air doing some sort of testbed work.
The Scaled ARES recently passing thru amarillo Texas (photo: Steve Douglass)
And now here recently it was spotted by photographer Steve Douglass as it made a stop in Amarillo Texas. It appears that the aircraft was on its way eastward and is presumably doing some work for the Navy. So, technically, that may not have been the Wild Blue Yonder that its sweet and simple gray paint was contrasting with : )
It's just great to see this little Warthog-ette, that once had a 25mm canon mounted onboard, is back in the air and working again!
More ARES design info: Video: Getting To Know The Rutan Model 151 'ARES' Circa 1990
Reader Comments (2)
Didn't N151SC gear up sometime last year? Probably why it has been painted.
Funny how the accident report has vanished from the FAA..
But I found this.
http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/as-the-croft-flies/2011/09/scaled-composites-skids-warthogish-model-151.html
Dudewanarace- I saw that article too - and not sure why the report isn't at the Flightglobal links, but I did some searching and found the gear-up landing report here