Founded in 1982 by Burt Rutan, Scaled has broad experience in air vehicle design, tooling and manufacturing, specialty composite structure design, analysis and fabrication, and developmental flight tests of air and space vehicles.
Founder/Chairman Emeritus
Special Projects
Model 97 is a two-place, side-by-side airplane of the 300 lb empty weight class. It has a slightly swept-back canard forward and swept back wings with winglets at the tips.
A subscale version of an eleven-place, twin turboprop, high-performance business aircraft developed for Beech Aircraft Corporation.
The Model 133-4.62 ATTT proof-of-concept demonstrator is a 62% scaled version of an airplane designed to challenging STOL and long range requirements.
The all-composite Triumph, an 8,500 lb, pressurized 8-place business aircraft, was designed around the brand-new, never flown, Williams FJ-44 turbofan engine.
Scaled did the structural design, tooling, fabrication, and static testing of an 85 ft span and a 108 ft span rigid sail/airfoil for the America’s Cup Challenge Race.
The ARES, Scaled Model 151, was designed initially in response to a U.S. Army request for a Low Cost Battlefield Attack Aircraft (LCBAA).
The Advanced Engineering Staff of General Motors designed a technology demonstration vehicle called the Ultralite, an automobile with interior room capable of seating four full size adults, and with excellent visibility, handling, performance, emissions and fuel consumption.
The Raptor Demonstrator high-altitude, long endurance, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) program was conducted under a contract from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to Scaled Composites, LLC.
In early 1993, Jim Rice and Tom Stark of the fledgling VisionAire Corporation visited Scaled with conceptual designs for a new single-engine business jet.
Walled Lake, Michigan, June 23, 1997 -- Williams International today announced that its all-composite, turbofan- powered "V-JET II" light aircraft is on schedule for its July 31 fly-in and follow-on demonstration flights and exhibition at the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) convention at Oshkosh, July 30 to August 5, 1997.
Proteus is a twin-turbofan, high-altitude, multi-mission aircraft powered by Williams International FJ44-2E engines.
The Model 309 is a proof-of-concept aircraft built for Adam Aircraft Industries.
The GlobalFlyer is a single seat, turbofan powered airplane designed to fly around the world nonstop, unrefueled, with a solo pilot.
SpaceShipOne, the first private manned spacecraft, is a three-place, high-altitude research rocket.
White Knight is a three-place, high-altitude, flexible and capable research aircraft.
The Model 326 aircraft (or Pegasus X-47A) is an unmanned aerial vehicle built for Northrop Grumman.
SpaceShipTwo will be powered by a unique hybrid rocket motor, which is currently under development.
WhiteKnightTwo, or Eve, is the mothership and launch platform for SpaceShipTwo.
Firebird is an optionally-piloted intelligence-gathering aircraft system.
BiPod is a hybrid gasoline-electric roadable aircraft.
Stratolaunch is a mobile launch system with three primary components.Structural Analysis And Design
INNOVATIVE ADVANCES: Scaled Composites, LLC is known for innovative advances in Structural Composites Technology - not only in the aircraft field, but other areas as well. Many specific examples of different structural issues that Scaled has solved can be seen under our project descriptions.
FINITE ELEMENT MODELING (FEM): Scaled uses FEM software to aid in the design of structural components. Buckling analysis, modal analysis, and non-linear solutions are a few examples of FEM uses within Scaled. FEM is used in conjunction with other design software and hand calculations to provide very reliable structural designs. Our modeling techniques have been extensively validated through test results of small and large scale structures.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (R&D): Scaled is also heavily involved in R&D work in composites. Much effort is currently being placed toward developing new manufacturing techniques that will be vital to future aerospace success. In addition, new materials and processes are being evaluated on a regular basis, in our quest to identify the best materials for aerospace applications. Much of our research work focuses on cost-effective applications of composites.
DESIGN AND INTEGRATION: In addition to structural composites work, Scaled is quite experienced in the design and integration of aircraft systems. Landing gear systems on most Scaled aircraft have been designed and fabricated in-house. Almost every type of propulsion system that exists has been integrated on a Scaled project - piston, turbofan, turboshaft, turboprop, pulsed detonation, and rocket engines. Many other system components such as flight controls, hydraulics, fuel, pressurization, avionics, electrical, and ECS have been successfully incorporated in Scaled vehicles. We have also been involved with unique systems such as parachute recovery devices and rotorcraft powerplant and drive systems.
The efficient use of advanced composite materials with thoughtful system integration allows Scaled to routinely deliver products that meet or exceed our customers' requirements.
FINITE ELEMENT MODELING (FEM): Scaled uses FEM software to aid in the design of structural components. Buckling analysis, modal analysis, and non-linear solutions are a few examples of FEM uses within Scaled. FEM is used in conjunction with other design software and hand calculations to provide very reliable structural designs. Our modeling techniques have been extensively validated through test results of small and large scale structures.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (R&D): Scaled is also heavily involved in R&D work in composites. Much effort is currently being placed toward developing new manufacturing techniques that will be vital to future aerospace success. In addition, new materials and processes are being evaluated on a regular basis, in our quest to identify the best materials for aerospace applications. Much of our research work focuses on cost-effective applications of composites.
DESIGN AND INTEGRATION: In addition to structural composites work, Scaled is quite experienced in the design and integration of aircraft systems. Landing gear systems on most Scaled aircraft have been designed and fabricated in-house. Almost every type of propulsion system that exists has been integrated on a Scaled project - piston, turbofan, turboshaft, turboprop, pulsed detonation, and rocket engines. Many other system components such as flight controls, hydraulics, fuel, pressurization, avionics, electrical, and ECS have been successfully incorporated in Scaled vehicles. We have also been involved with unique systems such as parachute recovery devices and rotorcraft powerplant and drive systems.
The efficient use of advanced composite materials with thoughtful system integration allows Scaled to routinely deliver products that meet or exceed our customers' requirements.
