At the first board meeting of 2022 on Jan. 18, Directors of the Mojave Air and Space Port voted unanimously to approve a resolution officially changing the name of the airport by adding the Rutan name.

During discussions at the meeting, the introduction of the new name will be done gradually. General Manager/CEO Todd Lindner said, “The plan is to start with the items that are most visible to the public, such as the monument signs at the entrances of the airport.”

The five Directors for the MASP Board include: Jim Balantine; William Deaver; Diane Barney; Chuck Coleman and Robert Morgan. Barney was elected to serve as the new President of the Board.

The board appointed an ad hoc committee of Directors Robert Morgan and Chuck Coleman to come up with concepts for incorporating the new name in the airport’s logo and similar branding.

Morgan requested a cost-benefit analysis when looking at implementing the new name, as the marketing benefits of the Rutan name may outweigh the initial costs, he said.

According to the staff report, “Adding the Rutan name to the facility would recognize aerospace designer Burt Rutan and record-setting brother Dick. Their aviation achievements have played a key role in the evolution of the aerospace industry and the success of the Mojave Air and Space Port organization.”

History of adding Rutan name

It is important to note that requests were presented three years ago to add the Rutan name to Mojave Airport and in previous board meetings and discussions, Dick Rutan and others even emphasized the importance of how the Rutan name must be recognized by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration). Giving examples of Burbank Bob Hope Airport and Orange County John Wayne Airport.

In 2019 at the January Mojave Air and Space Port board meeting, then General Manager/CEO Karina Drees announced that there was a request for a discussion item to be brought to the attention of the MASP Board. She stated that she had been approached by a couple of people, Cory Bird, who then served as Vice President (now serves as President and CEO) and was a 28 year veteran of Scaled Composites and other members of the airport community for adding the name ‘Rutan Field’ to the Mojave Air and Space Port name.

The 2019 Board President Andrew Parker stated that everyone could discuss this subject, but no action could be taken at the meeting due to the Brown Act, as it was not on the agenda as an action item.

Burt Rutan came to Mojave looking for a location he could afford for his innovative Rutan Aircraft Company, known to homebuilders as RAF.

The airport manager at the time was Dan Sabovich and he leased Rutan a building, to design, build and test his new flying machines.

Two of Rutan’s first employees were Mike and Sally Melvill who decades ago bought a set of Rutan’s Vari-Viggen plans out of the back of his trunk at the Oshkosh airshow for $51, built the plane, flew it to Mojave from Indiana and both were hired that day. The Melvill’s worked for Rutan for 29 years before retiring in 2007.

Sally Melvill attended the 2019 meeting and said, “I don’t think anybody needs convincing that Burt’s name needs to be here. I don’t think that’s what it’s about. I think it’s more about where and how we can do that. Literally, the name ‘space port’ would not be there if it was not for Burt. The recognition is what’s needed.”

Also at the meeting was Aerotech News columnist Cathy Hansen and she explained that people who met Rutan followed him to Mojave to work for him. “Burt’s the one who has brought the billionaires here. We have 2,500 people working at Mojave Air and Space Port,” said Hansen. “And I dare say the majority of those are here because of the thread that leads back to the genius that is Burt Rutan,”

Ben Diachun, who served as President of Scaled Composites in 2019, presented a couple of points concerning adding the Rutan name to Mojave Air and Space Port. “I believe ‘Rutan Field’ would be an excellent name or just inserting the name ‘Rutan’ after Mojave and that would also be an excellent addition.”

Diachun continued by explaining what the company has experienced by co-branding with the ‘Rutan’ name.

“For many years the company was known just as Burt’s place or Burt’s company,” Diachun said. “No one knew the name, Scaled Composites.”

“By elevating the name Rutan, you would create an awareness to a bigger population who already know Burt, but perhaps doesn’t know the name Mojave Air and Space Port,” said Diachun.

“Scaled Composites would be willing to help support the naming with branding, signage and location, if you like. In addition, the company has a collection of memorabilia that could be used for a museum of sorts to recognize his legacy, if you are interested,” Diachun stated.

Board President Parker said, “I don’t think there is any argument about the contributions, I think we just need to find the right fit for the Rutan name. So, we will all take that under advisement and ask that you keep your emails and suggestions coming. That is definitely something we will think about.”

Zach Reeder, who served as a flight test pilot and project engineer at Scaled Composites StratoLaunch that year said, “The benefit of changing the name is to remind ourselves what we’re doing here, especially as the airport has grown. Having a stake in the ground to try to remember some roots while some of the people who were here at the beginning are still around to remind us.”

“Some of the first generation is still here, but if you go do anything with any of the schools in the area in Mojave or down in Lancaster, none of those kids have heard of the Voyager and none of them have even heard of SpaceShipOne, believe it or not,” said Reeder. “I think that the risk that a few more years go by and the local community starts to forget what happened here, it’s an important duty to the group that is here now to make a monument and I don’t mean that in a physical stone sense, but leave a tribute that some pretty incredible, unlikely things happened here.”

Reeder reiterated that people have come here for that ‘nugget of vision’ that has been cultivated through the years and that we run the risk of losing our agility if we don’t keep promoting the rarity that attracts creative industrial anomalies and it is up to this board as to what we want to leave behind for the next generation and what it means to the community.

Rutan established his business at Mojave in 1974

Rutan Aircraft Factory began business at Mojave Airport in 1974, developing the VariEze aircraft, later Burt Rutan design’s made first flights at Mojave Airport, including: the Quickie, Defiant and Long-EZ prototypes and the one and only Voyager aircraft, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, made the epic flight around the world in 9 days, 3 minutes, 44 seconds, beginning on Dec. 14, 1986, and ending on Dec. 23, 1986.

Burt Rutan established Scaled Composites in 1982 and is now best known for the first privately funded manned space flight, with Mike Melvill and Brian Binnie, winning the Ansari $10-million X-Prize on October 4, 2004 with Paul G. Allen’s SpaceShipOne.

Rutan’s latest project at Mojave Air and Space Port is StratoLaunch, again funded by Paul G. Allen. Rutan’s Scaled Composites designed, constructed and conducted flight tests on the first SpaceShipTwo for Virgin Galatic.

Burt Rutan retired from Scaled Composites in 2011; he and Dick now reside in Coeur d`Alene, Idaho.