On December 23, 1986, pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, designer Burt Rutan, and crew chief Bruce Evans received the Collier Trophy after their one-of-a-kind, purpose-built Voyager aircraft set an impressive world record during a non-stop, unrefueled flight around the world.
A 25,000-mile around the globe
The plane took off and landed at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. The Voyager, which was essentially a flying fuel tank, took off from the runway by rolling almost the entire length of the 15,000-foot-long runway and scraping off one of its wingtip winglets before taking off. It had less than two hours of fuel left when it landed on the same runway after nine days, three minutes, and 44 seconds in the air.
Voyager was built with lightweight composite materials in 98 percent of its structure to maximize fuel efficiency. The main body of the plane was a sandwich of paper honeycomb and graphite fiber measuring.635 centimeters (1/4-inch). It was created without the use of metal and weighed only a few grammes.
The aircraft was powered by two engines, one at each end of the fuselage: a 110-hp, liquid-cooled rear engine (a Teledyne Continental IOL-200) and a 130-hp, air-cooled front engine (a Teledyne Continental IOL-200) (a Teledyne Continental 0-240). The non-stop unrefueled flight more than doubled the previous distance record set by a United States Air Force B-52H in 1962, and it remains an important aeronautical feat to this day.
Aviation’s last milestone
Rutan and Yeager then endured nine sleepless days and nights in a noisy cabin only two feet wide. They avoided storms, battled hallucinations, and dealt with mechanical issues before bringing Voyager home safe and sound, but with only 18 gallons of fuel left in her tanks.
Despite the difficulties and dangers of flying the Voyager, Rutan considered the flight to be aviation’s final milestone.The Voyager is now housed in the National Air and Space Museum’s Milestones of Flight gallery in Washington, D.C.
