R. Ben Henderson, P.E. · Creator / Engineer / Owner · DFW, TX

Learning something about everything, and everything about how things break.

(and occasionally how to fix them!)

About

Among other things, that covers airplanes and launch systems, a wood restoration company, and a shelf of pottery. The list gets longer every year, and that's how I like it!

For most of my career I called myself an engineer and stopped there. I kept the arts and creativity separate from my idea of engineering, while being extremely creative in my engineering work!

Now I treat engineering as a facet of creativity, with extra math required. I am a creative, and I'm working on expressing it in as many ways as I can: the businesses, the cars I've wrenched on, and whatever is on the bench. Right now that's pottery. Blacksmithing and glass are at the top of the list.

I'm a licensed mechanical engineer with 20 years in aerospace. I designed and built test programs at Innovative Engineering Solutions, then spent four years at Virgin Orbit, where I built and ran the liquid oxygen subcooling system and the trailer that carried the rocket out to the wing of the plane, finishing as Principal Engineer on the launch team. After that I spent six years at Venus Aerospace, a hypersonics company, as employee #1, Director of Test, and then Deputy Chief Engineer.

In 2024 I started Preservan Dallas, which repairs rotted wood with preservation-grade epoxy instead of tearing it out and replacing it. I run it the way I ran test programs: measure everything, write the procedure down, fix the weakest part first.

I was born in West, Texas, grew up in California's Central Valley, studied at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and now live in Dallas-Fort Worth with my two cats. DFW is home base so I can be close to my family while doing awesome things.

The list so far

Ben Henderson standing in front of the LauncherOne rocket mounted under the wing of a 747 — LauncherOne under the wing, Virgin Orbit

Nixie tube clock, built from a kit

Ben Henderson in red coveralls, headset and face covering, crouched beneath the white underside of a rocket — Last hands on the rocket before launch

Green schlieren image showing a dark plume of rising air curling into a vortex — Schlieren imaging, living room edition

Chocolate pie topped with browned meringue peaks on a wooden table — Chocolate meringue pie, from scratch

Pink and purple sunset clouds over a beach with port lights on the horizon — Long Beach, after work

Blue and white glazed bowl with a pour spout and a ridged grating surface in the base — Garlic grater bowl

A hand holding a cleaned aluminum carburetor in a garage workshop — Carburetor off the Datsun 1600

Ben Henderson in sunglasses and a headset, surrounded by white vapor — Activating a liquefier I built

Lego Saturn V rocket separated into stages and hung in a line from the ceiling — Lego Saturn V, hung stage by stage from the ceiling

A garage wall freshly sheathed in plywood under rows of LED shop lights — Garage wall: insulated, wired, sheathed

Pale yellow okra flower with a dark red center — Okra in bloom

A rocket engine firing on a test stand with an orange exhaust plume — Engine hot-fire, Venus Aerospace

Clay: Wheel-thrown bowls, a pitcher that pours well, and garlic graters. Mugs are still beating me.
Cars: A Datsun 1600 Roadster, sold when I started Preservan and still missed. A Porsche Boxster that got a repaired top mechanism and a custom stereo. And three 4Runners, every one of them tinkered on. The second got a lift kit, a new stereo, a full front-end rebuild (including the day I torqued in ft-lb what was specified in N-m), and a road trip through the bayou with friends.
Electronics: Six Nixie tube clocks soldered from kits, surface-mount parts and all. A 3D printer that mostly prints upgrades for itself.
Optics: A schlieren rig set up in the living room, for watching air move.
Growing things: Lithops from seed, pink oyster mushrooms, and, when I had a yard, okra, peppers, and asparagus. These days it's a patio full of pots. I'm always attempting to grow something, even if it's unhappy in my apartment.
Code: Python, then enough machine learning to be dangerous.
House and shop: A garage built out wall by wall, brick and paver work, and an outboard motor brought back to life. Ventilation, drainage, and electrical work, plus plenty of sheetrock and painting.
Kitchen and bar: Chocolate meringue pie from scratch, pizza on the grill, and a shelf of scotch, whiskey, and aged stouts.
Camera: Sunsets, mostly. A cliche I have stopped apologizing for.
Audiobooks: Always one going. Dungeon Crawler Carl and He Who Fights With Monsters are at the top right now.
Slower hobbies: A wooden gear clock, a Lego Saturn V separated into stages and hung from the ceiling, sharp knives, and puzzles that take over the kitchen table.
Next: Blacksmithing. Glass: blown, stained, and flameworked. A Porsche 911, a hobby farm, and maybe a makerspace for people to share.

Building now

Preservan DallasWood rot repair and window restoration for homes and historic buildings, following National Park Service preservation methods.
A deep tech startupI'm VP of Engineering. More here when it's public.
The next oneI like getting a business from zero to working and handing it to someone who wants to run it. There is always a spreadsheet open on a new idea. Right now I'm contemplating three or four.

Who I'd like to meet

People who are deeply curious and always asking why
Anyone who recognizes the word polymath
Operators who would rather take over a business that already works than start one from nothing
Entrepreneurs building service or physical-product companies
Engineers moving from corporate work into ownership
People in historic preservation and the skilled trades, especially in DFW

Contact

Email is the best way to reach me: [email protected]. If you think I should meet someone, I'll take the introduction.

Or find me on LinkedIn

For introductions

Copy and paste

R. Ben Henderson, P.E., is a mechanical engineer with 20 years in aerospace test and launch, including Virgin Orbit and Venus Aerospace, where he was Director of Test and later Deputy Chief Engineer. He founded Preservan Dallas, a wood rot repair and window restoration company using preservation-grade methods. He is based in Dallas-Fort Worth.