Design it.
Aircraft structures, mechanical systems, tooling, products and the CAD work behind them.
Aircraft · Simulators · Products · Experiments
Projects, airplanes and things worth trying.
My work has moved between aircraft structures, production tooling, flight simulators, mixed reality, consumer products and a long list of one-off problems that needed a practical answer.
The work never fit one box.
I started with CAD, welding, motorcycles and airplanes. Since then I have worked on production cars, experimental aircraft, air-race modifications, simulators, manufacturing systems and live-flight augmented reality.
The common thread is straightforward: understand the problem, model what matters, build something real and find out what it does.
Model it.
X-Plane aircraft, Unity environments, simulator systems and engineering evaluations.
Build it.
Prototypes, composites, production fixtures, sensors, controls and complete cockpits.
Fly it.
Ground testing, flight evaluation, pilot feedback and another round of changes.
Featured chapters
A much broader body of work.
The recognizable names are part of the story, but they are not the whole story.
2023–present
HMARD
I designed, integrated and flight-tested a helmet-mounted mixed-reality system combining aircraft data, head tracking, Unity and live-flight evaluation.
Professional simulation
X-Plane and complete cockpits
Aircraft models, professional support, Sim Your Plane kits and complete training systems ranging from an MD500 aerial-saw simulator to full-force-feedback and full-motion cockpits.
2018–2020
BlackFly at Opener
As Mechanical Design Engineering Manager, I led mechanical design and built aircraft structures, production tooling, gauges, jigs and physical simulators for what is now Pivotal.
2015–2016
Stratolaunch at Scaled Composites
I supported center-wing design and construction through engineering calculations, drill-template design, composite layups and hands-on aircraft assembly.
2016–2019
Red Bull Air Race
Aircraft modeling, track optimization, aerodynamic and mechanical changes, winglets, custom data tools, G-meters, simulator development and flight-test feedback.
2014–2018
Nissan Leaf production engineering
I led quality work for the Leaf, designed inspection tooling and helped introduce smart cameras, 3D printing, scanning and wearable technology into plant operations.
Project archive
The smaller projects matter too.
This is a working archive rather than a complete catalog. Some customer work remains private, and more photographs and project notes will be added over time.
Flight school and early builds
- Founded and grew Murfreesboro Aviation
- Electric Long-EZ flight-test support at Yates ElectroSpace
- SAE Formula and Baja projects
- Dakar-style motorcycle and electric Zero café racer builds
- Manufacturing internship and assembly-line development
Products, race aircraft and prototypes
- Eddie's Molecule from concept through Kickstarter
- Red Bull Flugtag design, simulation, build and flight
- G-meter and avionics development
- Long-EZ landing-gear and winglet projects
- Hang-glider simulation and airborne LIDAR testing
Sim Your Plane and independent engineering
- Public launch of the Sim Your Plane kit
- DreamGlass in-cockpit AR simulator
- Bridger Aerospace multiplayer firefighting simulator
- Composite FX full-motion simulator
- Ghenus Air eVTOL models and simulation
- OSET electric clutch, Hi Lo scope and customer product work
Full cockpits and live flight
- University of Nebraska Air Tractor 502 simulator rebuild
- MD500 aerial-saw simulator and unapproved FAA BATD submission
- SR22 projector simulator and Piper Navajo simulator
- HMARD versions 0.1 through 0.3
- Professional X-Plane 12 support
- Engineering, demonstration and test flying
Contact
Ben Myburgh
Engineer, pilot, builder and adventurer based in South Carolina.