It's just natural to adapt to one's environment and when you're Burt Rutan in Idaho with too much time on your hands, that means designing an airplane to take advantage of the circumstances. "Going out and exploring little lakes and rivers in a STOL seaplane is a fantasy, I think, for a pilot," the legendary designer told EAA. "So having something that would be a high-speed boat, a very efficient boat for Lake Coeur d'Alene, and then convert into a seaplane to go to the rivers and small lakes and elsewhere is what I'm trying to do." Rutan admitted he's bored since retiring earlier this year from Scaled Composites, the Mojave-based aircraft and spacecraft design company he founded. And if Rutan's inspiration for what he calls 372-3 is any indication, this could be one of his most innovative designs yet.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/news/retired-rutans-next-project