The tsunami of orders for Jim Bede’s BD-5 inspired a then-unknown Burt Rutan to design his own mass-market homebuilt with sexy looks, great performance, a cheap engine and two seats rather than one. Neither the swept-wing canard configuration, nor the fiberglass-over-foam construction, nor the use of slightly converted Volkswagen engines was unprecedented. But when Rutan put it together and it did 170 knots, the world took notice. The VariEze and its larger successor, the Long-EZ, were built in the thousands and hold many records. More important, they made Burt Rutan, the most innovative designer of his time, a household name