“Rutan has proved over and over that the box is often either too small and/or in the wrong place.”
Sometimes it is, sometimes its not. He’s more unorthodox that other designers but I don’t see how he’s any better.
The laws of aviation are written in blood.
Bert hasn’t been wrong yet!
How about WhiteKnightOne/SpaceShipOne?
What about Boomerang's solution to the single-engine-failure-in-a-twin problem?
His Plans & Construction manual for the Vari-Eze was worth the price just to see how an instruction manual should be written.
"The laws of aviation are written in blood."
Yes, and don't forget that "There are Old pilots and Bold pilots, there are no Old, Bold pilots!"
I have had a number of friends die in aviation, some from trying to ignore the laws of physics. I would trust one of Burt Rutan's design at least as much as anything else I've ever flown. He is not only extremely competent. He has as much engineering integrity as anyone I can name, including Dick VanGrunsven.