Jim Koepnick
NEAL WILLFORD, EAA 169108
Canard design considerations
Growing up, my annual vacation was attending the EAA convention with my dad and brother. I consider myself
fortunate, but perhaps the biggest drawback of
frequent attendance is that the memories started
blending together—unless something profoundly
unique stood out.
As a 12-year-old attending Oshkosh ’ 75,
two things did just that. The first was the hot,
dry weather. The second was a unique little
homebuilt parked on its nose. It was Burt Rutan’s
prototype VariEze. It had a canard or tail-first
configuration, was powered by a pusher engine,
and featured a moldless composite-construction
method pioneered by Rutan. Plans for a refined
version of the VariEze were made available the
following year, and it became extremely popular
with homebuilders. Over the next 10 years . . .
