Around the world, non-stop!
25th Anniversary of the most incredible flight ever.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the most incredible flight ever by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager. The Rutan Model 76 Voyager was the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. The aircraft was first imagined by Jeana, Dick, and his brother Burt Rutan as they were at lunch in 1981. The initial idea was first sketched out on the back of a napkin. The flight took off from Edwards Air Force Base’s 15,000 foot (4,600 m) runway in the Mojave Desert on December 14, 1986, and ended successfully 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds later, on December 23 with only a few gallons of fuel remaining. Burt Rutan has been enshrined into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1995, as well as his brother Dick Rutan in 2002.
For more information, you may want to visit these links:
- Dick Rutan: NAHF Enshrinee, Wikipedia
- Burt Rutan: NAHF Enshrinee, Wikipedia
- Jeana Yeager: Wikipedia
- Rutan Model 76 Voyager: Wikipedia
