VOYAGER COMPLETES GLOBAL FLIGHT:

December 23, 1986

After nine days and four minutes in the sky, the experimental aircraft Voyager
lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California, completing the first nonstop
flight around the globe on one load of fuel. Piloted by Americans Dick Rutan and
Jeana Yeager, Voyager was made mostly of plastic and stiffened paper and carried
more than three times its weight in fuel when it took off from Edwards Air Force
Base on December 14. By the time it returned, after flying 25,012 miles around
the planet, it had just five gallons of fuel left in its remaining operational
fuel tank. Voyager was built by Burt Rutan of the Rutan Aircraft Company without
government support and with minimal corporate sponsorship. Dick Rutan, Burt's
brother and a decorated Vietnam War pilot, joined the project early on, as did
Dick's friend Jeanna Yeager (no relation to aviator Chuck Yeager). Voyager's
extremely light yet strong body was made of layers of carbon-fiber tape and
paper impregnated with epoxy resin. Its wingspan was 111 feet, and it had its
horizontal stabilizer wing on the plane's nose rather than its rear--a trademark
of many of Rutan's aircraft designs. Essentially a flying fuel tank, every
possible area was used for fuel storage and much modern aircraft technology was
foregone in the effort to reduce weight.When Voyager took off from Edwards Air
Force at 8:02 a.m. PST on December 14, its wings were so heavy with fuel that
their tips scraped along the ground and caused minor damage. The plane made it
into the air, however, and headed west. On the second day, Voyager ran into
severe turbulence caused by two tropical storms in the Pacific. Dick Rutan had
been concerned about flying the aircraft at more than a 15-degree angle, but he
soon found the plane could fly on its side at 90 degrees, which occurred when
the wind tossed it back and forth.Rutan and Yeager shared the controls, but
Rutan, a more experienced pilot, did most of the flying owing to the long
periods of turbulence encountered at various points in the journey. With weak
stomachs, they ate only a fraction of the food brought along, and each lost
about 10 pounds.On December 23, when Voyager was flying north along the Baja
California coast and just 450 miles short of its goal, the engine it was using
went out, and the aircraft plunged from 8,500 to 5,000 feet before an alternate
engine was started up.Almost nine days to the minute after it lifted off,
Voyager appeared over Edwards Air Force Base and circled as Yeager turned a
primitive crank that lowered the landing gear. Then, to the cheers of 23,000
spectators, the plane landed safely with a few gallons of fuel to spare,
completing the first nonstop circumnavigation of the earth by an aircraft that
was not refueled in the air. Voyager is on permanent display at the National Air
and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.