Burt Rutan is an aeronautical engineer. Frankly, I think he's a genius. Since the early 1970s, he has created over 30 unique aircraft designs that are unlike anything anyone else is doing. Just a few of his designs include: VariViggen, VariEze, LongEze, Quickie, Defiant, AMSOIL Racer, Voyager, Boomerang, Proteus, AD-1, and many more.

http://www.dragonaero.com/frames/rutan_aircraft_factory_cd.htm
http://www.aerofiles.com/_rutan.html

He also owns Scaled Composites, an R&D shop in Mojave. Scaled specializes in creating custom prototypes of new aircraft designs. They also make the wings for the Pegasus launcher.

http://www.scaled.com/
http://www.scaled.com/bio.htm
http://www.avweb.com/articles/profiles/brutan/

Dick Rutan is a highly skilled pilot who has set many world records. I met him at Oshkosk back in 1981 and had a long conversation with him. I'd just read about his plan to fly the Voyager around the world. He showed me the preliminary engineering drawings before they'd been released to the press. While he's a retired fighter pilot with the obligatory reputation for arrogance, he wasn't that way with me. He even introduced me to Jeana Yeager, his partner in Voyager.