Aviation Pioneer Burt Rutan Flies Weightless for the First Time

ANN has been having a ball sharing Zero-G with a number of luminaries while Editor-In-Chief Jim Campbell has been serving as a crewmember aboard "G-Force One" this week. But... with the exception of Apollo 11's Buzz Aldrin, none of these VIPs have been as eagerly awaited as Scaled Composites' Burt Rutan (shown below, to the the right of X Prize's Gregg "Born 2 Fly" Maryniak).

Aviation Pioneer and SpaceShip One Designer Burt Rutan boarded G-Force One, Zero Gravity Corporation's (ZERO-G) Weightless 727-200 aircraft, at Mercury Air Centers in Burbank, CA, on Thursday to experience his first weightless flight. Campbell (who apparently has a cast-iron stomach) shot all the Zero-G pix on board (and has been since the pre-Part 121 certification test flights), usually floating free to make sure that all the right angles were covered.

Accompanying Burt was Scaled's furry mascot, "Boscoe," a stuffed bear that is expected to be on the next flight of SpaceShipOne... if he makes the grade. "I brought Boscoe here to see how he handles Zero-G. If he gets sick, he's off the flight," said Burt (totally deadpan). Boscoe did well... even ditching Burt for a while to fly around the cabin on his own, visiting with a number of other Zero-G flyers... especially the cute ones.

Burt's own experience was an exhilarating one... and his handling of Zero-G looked as expert as any of the "old-timers" who have done this many times before.

"'The ZERO-G Experience' was ten times better than I expected," said Rutan. "I highly recommend it for those who want to experience a suborbital flight. It was really amazing, unbelievably cool!"

Rutan experienced one Martian, followed by one Lunar and then 27 zero-g parabolas. Rutan is also the leading contender for the X-PRIZE competition in which his SpaceShip One flew 100 kilometers on June 21st in the qualifying flight.

Peter Diamandis (shown below, with Burt), founder, chairman, and CEO, Zero Gravity Corporation said, "I am very proud to be able to have taken Rutan on his first trip to weightlessness. Now he is ready for his suborbital flight."

THe Zero-G Corp. is a privately held space entertainment and tourism company whose mission is to make the excitement and adventure of space accessible to the public. ZERO-G is the first and only FAA-approved provider of Weightless Flight, termed The ZERO-G Experience), which includes a full-day program led by a veteran astronaut in which a Flyer (the customer) experiences Martian, Lunar and Zero Gravity conditions.

The ZERO-G Experience is conducted aboard G-Force One -- a specially modified, FAA-approved Boeing 727-200 aircraft. ZERO-G serves the general public (age 15 and over), as well as the entertainment and film industries, corporate and incentive market, non-profit research and education sectors, and government.

ZERO-G's aircraft partner is Amerijet International, Inc., the Fort Lauderdale-based cargo transportation and logistics provider. Zero Gravity Corporation is headquartered in Dania Beach, Florida. Its flight operations are conducted out of Fort Lauderdale - Hollywood International Airport.

FM: www.nogravity.com, www.amerijet.com