Seem to recall more about Rutan having a cow about it than anything else. Do you know what it performed like? seems like it would be a real rocket
to me....
Actually, Rutan wasn't concerned with putting an O-320 on a VariEze because it was such a preposterous idea (in his mind) that it wasn't even on his radar screen until (I believe) he'd been out of the plans business for a while. Burt WAS concerned about putting O-235's on the VEZ and O-320's on the LEZ because of the added weight, and we all know how that turned out (quite well, I'd say).
In any event, the first O-320 on a VEZ that I personally know about was Martin and Virginia Skiby's VEZ that first flew as an O-320 in 1992 at the Wendover RACE (Martin - 230.73 mph). Virginia flew it in eleven various, subsequent RACE events from 1993 to 1996 and consistently turned between 230 and 245 mph (in the Unlimited Class). No doubt, an O-320 powered VEZ is going to move out smartly (unless it has 500 x 5 'Tundra Tires' and no wheel pants). In my mind, however, the major advantage to a big engine is better take-off and climb performance, not speed. And then there's the issue of an off-field landing in a heavy plane, but that's another topic.
