Burt Rutan: engineer, aviation/space pioneer, and now, active climate skeptic

Watts Up With That? ^ | 8/16/09 | Anthony Watts

[null and void]

Burt Rutan - aviation pioneer, engineer, test pilot, climate skeptic. Note the car.

Recently after some conversations with a former chemical engineer who provided me with some insight, I’ve come to the conclusion that many engineers have difficulty with many of the premises of AGW theory because in their “this has to work or people die” world of exacting standards, the AGW argument doesn’t hold up well by their standards of performance.

Today I was surprised to learn that one of the foremost and world famous engineers on the planet, Burt Rutan, has become an active climate skeptic. You may be familiar with some of Rutan’s work through his company, Scaled Composites:

Thanks to WUWT reader Dale Knutsen, I was provided a PowerPoint file recently by email presented by Mr. Rutan at the Oshkosh fly-in convention on July 29th, 2009 and again on August 1st, 2009. It has also now been posted online by an associate of Mr. Rutan’s.

There were a number of familiar things in the PowerPoint, including data plots from one of the USHCN stations I personally surveyed and highlighted, Santa Rosa, NM. Rutan had an interest in it because of the GISS adjustment to the data. For him, the whole argument is about the data. He says about his presentation in slide #3:

Not a Climatologist’s study; more from the view of a flight test guy who has spent a lifetime in data analysis/interpretation.

In the notes of his PowerPoint on slide #3, Rutan tells us why he thinks this way(emphasis mine):

My study is NOT as a climatologist, but from a completely different prospective in which I am an expert.

Complex data from disparate sources can be processed and presented in very different ways, and to “prove” many different theories.

For decades, as a professional experimental test engineer, I have analyzed experimental data and watched others massage and present data. I became a cynic; My conclusion – “if someone is aggressively selling a technical product who’s merits are dependant on complex experimental data, he is likely lying”. That is true whether the product is an airplane or a Carbon Credit.

Now since I’m sure people like foaming Joe Romm will immediately come out to label Mr. Rutan as a denier/delayer/generally bad person, one must be careful to note that Mr. Rutan is not your average denier/delayer. He’s “green”. Oh horrors, a “green denier”! Where have we seen that before?

From his PowerPoint, here’s his house, note the energy efficient earth walled design.

In his PowerPoint notes he says about his green interests:

My house was Nov 89 Pop Science Cover story; “World’s Most Efficient House”. Its big advantage is in the desert summer. It is all-electric and it uses more energy in the relatively mild winters than in the harsh summers – just the opposite of my neighbors.

The property has provisions for converting to self-sustaining (house and plug-in hybrid car) via adding wind generator and solar panels when it becomes cost effective to do so.

Testing Solar Water Heat in the 70s at RAF; the Rutan Aircraft Factory was converted to solar-heated water in the 70s, when others were only focused on gasoline costs.

My all electric EV-1 was best car I ever owned. Primary car for 7 years, all-electric with an 85 mile range. I was very sad (just like the guy shown) when the leased cars were recalled and crushed by General Motors. I will buy a real hybrid when one becomes available (plug-in with elect-range>60 miles). The Prius “hybrid” is not a hybrid, since it is fueled only by gasoline. A Plug-in Hybrid can be fueled with both gas and electricity. You might even see a ‘plug-in hybrid airplane’ in my future.

And he notes in the slide:

Interest is technology, not tree-hugging

Well that right there is reason enough to put all sorts or nasty labels on the man. Welcome to the club Burt, we are proud to have you!

Rutan’s closing observations slide is interesting:

Slide #32 from Burt Rutan's presentation

And, in his notes he makes this mention:

Is the debate over? – The loudest Alarmist says the debate is over. However, “It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry”.

I think by the “loudest alarmist” he means Al Gore.

And his final slide:
Slide #33 from Burt Rutan's presentation

Rutan’s PowerPoint file is posted here

I wonder if in conversations with his biggest client, Virgin’s Richard Branson, he ever mentions Gore and their joint project? I’d love to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.

[null and void]

Good for him!

[poindexter]

Is it OK for a 48-year-old man to have a hero? If so, Burt Rutan is one of mine!

[FreedomProtector]

thanks for posting

[Fast Moving Angel]

Burt Rutan has a heck of a lot more credibility than Al Gore.

[SES1066]

BTT for later read

[IncPen]

check this out

[Locomotive Breath]

I’m an engineer too. Not one of Rutan’s caliber, but I’ve been around the block a time or two. I’ve always known that models claiming to predict climate 100 years in advance are completely bogus.

[GreyMountainReagan]

I earned my MS in ME about 10 years ago.

My thesis was to collect combustion data from the boiler of a 400 MW power plant and then compare the 3-D combustion data to computer modeling. (Part of the clean coal technology program)

Sure it was over 10 years ago but the results were surprisingly pathetic. Model could not predict the steady state conditions to any degree of precision at all.

It only predicted the conditions after complete combustion. Something that I could do on a half a sheet of paper and about 15 minutes of time. Professors were disappointed but they did want a valid comparision.

So naturally when I hear about computer model predicting the weather out to 20-50 years I laugh.

I mean seriously. They can predict the weather out ot about 3 days but not even 5 days.

20 years? What a crock.

Global Warming = communism

[SgtBob]

I got my BS in BS when I was 12, or 13.

God luv ya, Grey!

I wish one AGW hack could tell me, while I’m fishing in a glacial pond just north of Indianapolis, what industry of mankind caused the polar ice cap to retreat from what is now Ft. Wayne, to the Artic Ocean in only 5000 years.

15,000 years ago Detroit was under 800 feet of ice. 10,000 years ago it was a piece of land between Lake Erie, and Lake Huron. Man must have been producing SUV type vehicles in Detroit before Mr. Ford came callin’.

[The Great RJ]

Rutan again shows that even a basic look at global warming shoots it full of holes. My favorite way to bug global warming nuts is to remind them of the last ice age 20,000 years ago when most of the northern hemisphere was covered with glaciers. Obviously there was climate change on a scale that exceeds even Al Gore’s wet dreams both to create the glaciers and subsequently to melt them. What was the cause of this? Thus there must obviously be climate control mechanisms that have nothing to do with humans and which are totally beyond are control. Prove that the global warming or cooling we are seeing now is not just part of this natural documented cycle.

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from August 18, 2009.

Thanks null and void.

"If you don't have a consensus that it's nonsense, you don't have a breakthrough." - Burt Rutan, 2004

[SunkenCiv]

but OTOH:

• Branson In £1.6bn Pledge [9/21/2006] -- Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson has committed £1.6bn over 10 years to fight global warming.... will hand over all the profits from the Virgin Group's transport business to support the cause. (snip) [Branson] said the profits from Virgin's train and airline businesses would be invested in efforts to find renewable, sustainable energy sources.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks,....never saw it before.

[SunkenCiv]

rutan, burtrutan, bertrutan, virgin, virgingalactic, scaledcomposites: merged, chrono, edited:

• Spaceflight Rutan's latest frontier
• Private space race, public hurdles
• Burt Builds Your Ride To Space (X-Prize)
• Rocketeers... Start Your Engines! X Prize Cup Planned
• X Prize Contestant Scaled Composites' SpaceShipOne Flies
• Eyes on a Prize, Entrepreneurs Seek to Launch a New Industry
• Hybrid Rocket Motor for X Prize Entry SpaceShipOne Tested
• SpaceShipOne's Successful 2nd Free Flight
  Raises Hopes for December 17 Spaceflight
• SpaceDev Snags Scaled Composites' Suborbital Rocket Plane Contract
• Rutan making history with SpaceShipOne
• Two X Prize Teams Poised for Manned Spaceflight
• SpaceShipOne: A progress report (Rutan XPRIZE attempt)
• Airport tenants make Newsweek -
  XCOR Aerospace, Scaled Composites featured in article
• X-Prize Update: SpaceShipOne's Third Drop Test
• Who'll be first with star ship Private Enterprise?
• SpaceShipOne completes fourth drop test
• Virgin, Scaled in Plans for Circumnavigation Flight
• Famed aviator Rutan joins airport board
• SpaceShipOne Racks Up Sixth Test Flight
• Rutan wins Popular Science award
• Valley's SpaceShipOne soars
• Photos of SpaceShipOne's Landing Mishap
• Aerospace milestones celebrated
• 1 Jet engine and 18,000 pounds of fuel
• Sir Richard greets Rutan's GlobalFlyer
• NASA Offers Prize to Private Innovators
• Rutan's GlobalFlyer passes first test
• Private Space Plane Flies Again
• Private space race nears finish line
• Feds Give Private Spaceship Go-Ahead to Expand Flight Testing
• FAA licenses California company's private manned rocket
• Government Licenses First Private Rocket
• BREAKING NEWS! Private Spaceship Completes Second Rocket-Powered Test Flight
• Rutan group rockets toward X-Prize
• Rutan's $10 million chase is big draw
• X-Prize event to push spacecraft
• Manned Private Rocket Reaches Edge of Space (XPRIZE)
• Private spaceship sets altitude record
• SpaceShipOne makes third rocket-powered flight
• Smithsonian's AV birds
• Date set for historic spaceflight
  (Burt Rutan / Scaled Composites / SpaceShipOne alert)
• Date Set For Private Space Launch
  (SpaceShipOne from Scaled Composites)
• BOUND FOR SPACE
• The great leap up
• SpaceShipOne ready to fly in Space
• First Private Spaceflight Set to Launch
• Private Rocket Ship Breaks Space Barrier
  (Cool Photo Slide Show with Audio of SS1 Flight)
• Astronomy Picture of the Day 06-25-04
• SpaceShipOne Makes History -- Barely
• The Future of Space Travel . . .
• Scaled Aims For Late September X Prize Flights
• Now Boarding! SpaceShipOne Paves Way for Passengers?
• X-prize race hots up
• Everyday Astronaut
• The Night We Return to the Moon
• SpaceShipOne to take flight for X-Prize
• A Giant Leap For Commercial Space Travel
• Gentlemen, Start Your Rockets
  (Rutan sets the date, says he might fly!)
• SpaceShipOne, crew honored
• Pilots discuss SSO program at flight symposium
• SpaceShipOne chases $10 million - Rutan's rocket ready to go
• Helping New Space Industry Lift Off
• Date set for space prize attempt
  (SpaceShipOne GO for Wednesday, 6 am pst)
• Tense Moments During Trailblazing Private Space Flight
• SpaceShipOne reached 337,500 feet: judging committee
• One more flight to go on Monday
• 40 buses heading for SpaceShipOne liftoff
• SpaceShipOne has made Space History
• SpaceShipOne Flies to Space and Wins the X-Prize
• Houston, we have a winner: Allen's group claims X Prize
• Brave New World? Next Steps Planned for Private Space Travel
• Signals from SpaceShipOne
• SpaceShipOne team to land with Leno on 'Tonight Show'
• America Fails the 'Global Test'
• Black Sky: The Race for Space (SpaceShipOne show)
• Burt Rutan: Building 'Tomorrowland' One Launch at a Time
• Unlikely Visionary Behind Race to Space
• Spaceship logs detail flights into history
• SpaceShipOne designer will appear twice in city
• Burt Rutan, in his own words
• Will Government-Sponsored Space Prizes Fly?
• The Nanny State in Space
• Letter From Rep. Sherwood Boehlert
  Regarding the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act
• Space Cowboy Envisions New Frontier
• TIME Magazine names SpaceShipOne its 2004 Coolest Invention of the Year
• Congress Passes Bill Allowing Space Tours
• One small step for space tourism
• Salute to 2004's Technical Miracle Workers
• 'Little float that could' comes up winner
• SpaceShipTwo Won't Be Like SpaceShipOne
  (awesome Rutan quote on taking risks)
• Burt Rutan: 'Stay tuned' for new endeavors
• GlobalFlyer revs up for record
• Rocket team lands aviation 'Oscar'
• Pilot aims to be a sky legend
  (Burt Rutan's latest record attempt)
• Fossett Readies for Nonstop Solo Flight
• Fossett Starts Global Solo Flight Attempt
• Fossett nears Palostam
• Fossett Breaks Nonstop Solo Flight Record
• The starship enterprise
  (Posted for the enjoyment of the Burt Rutan fan club!)
• The Vision for Space Exploration needs transformational technology
• Spaceship firm to expand
• Volvo and Sir Richard Branson Unveil Winner of Trip to Space
• "It's Mainly Just for Fun"
• Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics Hearing Charter:
  Future Markets for Commercial Space
• SpaceShipOne Inventor Says Space in Reach
• Rutan: Space Tourism Will Thrive, But Regulations Already Interfering
• t/Space Offers an Option for Closing Shuttle, CEV Gap
• Burt Rutan Chides NASA for Dullness, Says Space should be Fun
• White Knight Prepares For New Mission
• X-37 takes to sky with White Knight
• Shuttle mission's success crucial to US space exploration
• Invent the Lever
• Private space missions weighed
• Oshkosh's AirVenture 2005 draws thousands on Day 1
• Rutan talks of future of space
• Richard Branson and Burt Rutan Form Spacecraft Building Company
• Space Shuttle Fleet Grounded!
• U.S. Okays Virgin Galactic Spaceship Plans
• SpaceShipThree poised to follow if SS2 succeeds
• The Space Elephant Meets The Gazelle
• Cal Poly honors Burt Rutan
• Our SpaceShipOne rolls into Smithsonian
• SS2 faces major design decisions
• Burt Rutan: Building The People's Spaceship
• XCOR Rocket Plane Soars into Record Book
• Virgin Spaceport to Be Built in N.M.
• Philippe Starck to design Virgin Galactic spaceport
• Beam Me Up - Space Travel For Beginners (Virgin Galactic)
• Steve Fossett Makes It Across the Atlantic (Over Ireland at 10:20 EST)
• Virgin says on track to be world's first spaceline
• Virgin Galactic Customers Parting with Their Cash
• Hotels In Space: Another Giant Step For Branson
• First Dubai Founder Astronaut!
• Scotland lined up for space launch
• Ashburn bill seeks loan OK for Mojave spaceport
• California Lawmakers Back Mojave Spaceport Growth
• Rutan Faults NASA on Apollo-Style Capsule
• Rutan Takes Aim at NASA's CEV Plans, Likens it to 'Archeology'
• Space travel may help Earth
• ExWeb NSS report: Burt Rutan: "I hope to go the Moon in my lifetime"
• Victims of their own success
• Virgin Galactic Aims to Fly Passengers by 2008
• Virgin Galactic: Anatomy of a Business Model
• Virgin considers cabin and spacesuit designs
• Branson goes galactic with Virgin
• NASA/Virgin Galactic agreement potential boon for Moffett Field
• Space Worlds Collide
• Pratt & Whitney Canada selected for White Knight II engines
• Northrop Grumman to own SpaceShipOne builder
  (Burt Rutan sells to Northrup Grumman)
• Northrop, Scaled Composites to wed
• California - Reports of deaths in Mojave explosion
  (thought to be rocket explosion)
• 2 Killed After Explosion at Mojave Desert Airport
• Mojave test explosion {follow-up}
• Scaled Composites tragedy review begins
• Starship Enterprise -
  How private investment has launched a new space race
• Scaled Composites Family Support Fund
• On the loss of our good friend Glen May
• Preparing for the worst
• Scaled Composites Forms Support Fund for Explosion Victims
• Tales Of The 'Rocketeers'
• Virgin Galactic pushes test dates back
• Rutan joins search for one-time rival Fossett
• Virgin Galactic spaceship designer reveals changing ideas
• PICTURE: First images of Spaceport America revealed
• NASA Pundits Launch Debate Over Space Flight
• Rocket builder cited in fatal explosion (Scaled Composites)
• Virgin's Branson unveils commercial spaceship model (SpaceShipTwo)
• Virgin Galactic Unveils Spaceship Designs
• Virgin Galactic's White Knight II to roll out in May
• VIDEO: SpaceShipTwo Revealed
• Space tourism: Galactic Gamble - Is the market Virgin's to lose?
• White Knight 2 will make four flights at Oshkosh
• The next frontier
• Burt Rutan: engineer, aviation/space pioneer, and now, active climate skeptic
• Burt Rutan Joins The Ranks Of Active AGW Skeptics
• Virgin Galactic unveils SpaceShipTwo,
  the world's first manned commercial spaceship
• Spandau Ballet to be first band to perform in space
• Submergin' Atlantic (Sir Richard Branson plans "underwater plane")
• Space Pioneer Burt Rutan Blasts NASA Plan
• Virgin Galactic spacecraft makes 1st crewed flight
• Virgin Galactic's first space trip could be this fall

[SunkenCiv]

Me either, but I see that I’d seen another similar one (I bolded it in the full list above).

[RinaseaofDs]

He’s been a hero of mine since I was in college. I wore out that article on his house in 1989.

So happy to see him come down on the side of hard science and engineering.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

His little airplanes with that high rev engine make an awful racket as they come in for landing,...though,, way more thean jetblues airliners do....Long Beach mun Airport.

[SunkenCiv]

topic is from a year ago, but I’d planned to ping you earlier, just so you could admire my “work”:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2319181/posts?page=14#14

[SuziQ]

Climate skeptic ping!

[steelyourfaith]

Thanx SunkenCiv & Ernest_at_the_Beach !

 

Beam me to Planet Gore !