The iRise user conference Fusion ‘07 started out with two incredibly inspiring speakers, Dick Rutan, pilot for Voyager, the privately-funded airplane that completed a non-stop flight around the world and Brian Binnie, test pilot for SpaceShipOne, the aircraft that won the $10 million X-Prize for repeat space travel.

Listen to Dick and Brian’s entire presentation at the iRise conference (Time: 1 hour 13 minutes].

Dick spoke about growing up with his brother Burt Rutan who designed both Voyager and SpaceShipOne. As a boy, Burt chose not to build model planes out of kits. He prefer to just purchase balsa wood, design his own planes, and let them break. Dick said that 1/3rd of Burt’s ideas failed. And it’s probably where he learned the most. Through failure and being on the edge is where we derive innovation. Brian Binnie pointed out with every milestone achieved through innovation, like the four minute mile or the Wright brothers’ first airplane, many people were immediately able to succeed afterwards. After the four minute mile, 336 people ran the four minute mile within ten years of it being first broken, and there were hundreds of plane models just four years after the Wright brothers flight at Kitty Hawk. In both cases, innovators opened the door for others to succeed.

The most dramatic moment of the presentation was Dick showing the long takeoff of the Voyager. A gasoline heavy plane that weighed so much the tips of the wings were scraping the ground during takeoff. Ultimately those tips broke off, but even with a foot and a half of wingspan gone from each side of the plane, Dick and his co-pilot Jeana Yeager were able to complete the trip of 24,986 miles in 9 days, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds. And thanks to Dick staying alive, the record stood, even today. According to the National Aeronautic Association (NAA), for a flight to get recorded the pilots have to live for 48 hours after the flight.

Brian Binnie had a similar story to tell with Scaled Composites‘ creation of SpaceShipOne. He said the company’s success of innovation was due to the fact that they’re not process driven. They don’t have standards. Process and standards are not motivational and it doesn’t foster innovation. Admittedly Binnie said the Scaled Composites team can work without a net because the company builds proof of concept models, one of kind types. They’re not going into production mode. Binnie said, “We don’t give out schedules because once you create schedules, clients hold you to it.” It was a wish for all the attendees in the room.

During the Q&A, one attendee asked what the cost of a coach ticket on SpaceShipTwo would be and would Scaled Composites accept miles. Binnie said surprisingly one person will be flying on Virgin miles, but if you don’t have those miles, $200,000 is the cost of a coach ticket. If you’d like to purchase one, contact Virtuoso, they’re the exclusive travel agency for SpaceShipTwo.