After the Quickie Aircraft Corporation, Rutan’s next customer was NASA ... Rutan’s 31st airplane, the mantis-like Proteus is multi-mission but one of a kind. Invented as a broadband tower ...

IN THE PRE-DAWN DARKNESS of California’s Mojave Spaceport, a group of employees from Burt Rutan’s Scaled Composites assembles in a hangar around the twin-engine Proteus aircraft, a Rutan design.

The Model 281 Proteus and Model 401 Sierra were on static display at Nellis Air Force Base for Aviation Nation 2025. Nellis ...