Cross your fingers

[Richard]

I just applied to Scaled Composites. C'mon, daddy needs some good karma.

 

[tonycondon]

they need a new janitor?

good luck

 

[twdeckard]

I have heard that the best way to ingratiate yourself is to be there in person, rather than just sending a resume. The janitor quip aside, the suggestion was to pick up a broom and start sweeping the hanger until they gave you a job ...

 

[flyersfan31]

That would be pretty cool. Good luck.

 

[Richard]

they need a new janitor?

good luck

Yeah, doing the job white people won't....wait. nm

 

[Richard]

I'm gonna be up there tomorrow anyhow so it was surrendipitous I got the job lead today. Victorville, Palmdale, and Mojaveburg. Note to self: put broom in truck tonight.

 

[sba55]

Hey, good luck!

 

[gismo]

I'm gonna be up there tomorrow anyhow so it was surrendipitous I got the job lead today. Victorville, Palmdale, and Mojaveburg. Note to self: put broom in truck tonight.

While you're there see if you can find out what the thing is that looks like a cross between a Buck Rogers spaceship and a turboprop single sitting on it's tail and pointing straight up. IIRC it's a few hundred yards from the SC complex. And good luck with the job opportunity. Also here's a suggestion to improve your chances: Ask to see any of the projects underway that they can show you and then ooh and ahh as much as possible. I'm pretty certain that Rutan and friends are pretty susceptible to fawning over their stuff.

 

[bigred177]

Good luck, that seems like an awesome place to work. How do you feel about canard configs?

 

[Richard]

Wilco, Lance.

WRT canards, I think anything that can get the job done, or do it better, is the right thing. What should the 'proper' plane look like? That brings up something I've thought about for many years:

What would have happened if the Wright Bros had so many nay sayers around like now? (I know, those persons now have years of trial and error to shape their opinion, a contrast to way back then.) People can be so influential in their discouragement. I think Rutan has more in common with the Wright's than with Boeing or Loughead, or Douglas. Even the illustrious Kelly Johnson pretty much kept himself confined to a specific perspective. Well, maybe that's a silly thing to say. Maybe Rutan stands on the shoulders of Johnson. Anyway, onward and upward.

I think this push for efficiency has a certain inherent minimalist process. I've designed and built small power and sail boats and outdoor furniture. What those things have in common is they are expressions of using only enough to be efficient (non-complex, safe, sleek). I designed/built several collapsable boats and sets of furniture to achieve a maximum load rating yet use no glue or fasteners (other than draw bore pegs) and still excel in achieving their intended purpose. I think Rutan is a success because of that type of thinking.

I've had friends split their sides in laughter at a chair I built. Yet they shut up when I put a Dodge 440 in the chair and it held. Or my sailboat kicked ass on their Hobie 16 in 12 kts of wind. Rutan has been showing us the way and that it can be done.

 

[gismo]

What would have happened if the Wright Bros had so many nay sayers around like now?

AFaIK the Wrights had plenty of folks telling them it couldn't be done. To their credit they took a systematic/scientific approach to solving the problems involved, something that contributed heavily to their success. It appears that Rutan et al is of a similar mind.

 

[colomtnflyer]

So... will the next great debate here be "Which wings forward, the big ones or the little ones?", instead of High vs. Low Wing?

 

[Dean]

I have heard that the best way to ingratiate yourself is to be there in person, rather than just sending a resume..

Being the one that hires the staff here, all mailed in resumes go in file 13. If you are too lazy to come see me for a position, you are too lazy to work here.

 

[Ted]

So... will the next great debate here be "Which wings forward, the big ones or the little ones?", instead of High vs. Low Wing?

Well, seeing as the canards are supposed to stall before the main wings, you really wouldn't want them to be in back. Yikes, that would be profoundly not fun.

 

[Richard]

Being the one that hires the staff here, all mailed in resumes go in file 13. If you are too lazy to come see me for a position, you are too lazy to work here.

To be clear, their stated preference was on-line application. Many places use the app submission process to cull the herd. If you can't follow the instructions, you won't be considered.

Anyway, I follow-up the initial application, no matter how it's submitted.