Some people are very critical of Dick as a person in and out of the cockpit. I never met him or his brother that I can remember. I think they're both oddballs from what I have heard or read. I think they had a fairly strict upbringing that might've shaped their unique personalities. I recall a story one of the crew on the bearcat told me (before I was working it) that Burt Rutan had invited Lyle and the bearcat up to Mojave for a photo op with the Pond Racer in '91 before the Reno races that year. Lyle agreed and a small crew launched the airplane in KVNY and then another small group met it in Mojave. Remember that in '91 the Rare Bear was at its peak, and unbeknownst to the Scaled Composite folks the airplane was pretty much just doing a test flight before they left for Reno and was turned up with all of the fluids and gases ready to make a max power run to verify some stuff. After he landed they parked the airplanes next to each other for some pictures. There was lots of smiling and shaking hands. And then it was time to go home, Lyle asked the tower if he could make a pass down the runway and considering Mojave isn't exactly a bustling hub of activity they said "sure". (Everything I say from here on out is all hypothetical, is it fiction, is it fact? It's up to you.) He went out a few miles and wound that airplane up to full race power and instead of flying down the runway he flew directly over the ramp where the Pond Racer was sitting at about 100' going really, really fast. The Pond Racer was designed and built to replace the warbirds in the Unlimited class at Reno. I heard after that pass Burt threw his hat on the ground and angrily walked away. Air racing has legends and for the fortunate few who were there this is one of them. I think the airplane left Mojave and flew to Reno but I might be mistaken. In any case that September the bearcat won what many consider the best Gold Unlimited Final ever run.
TLDR: The Rutans might not be as nice as you think.
