In 1986, an aircraft called the Rutan Model 76 Voyager made history as the first plane to fly non-stop around the world without refueling. The idea was born over lunch in 1981, when aerospace engineer Burt Rutan sketched the concept on the back of a napkin. His brother Dick Rutan, a former fighter pilot, and experienced pilot Jeana Yeager were there to see it. From that sketch, five years of volunteer-driven work at the Rutan Aircraft Factory and Voyager Aircraft turned the idea into a real machine.
The Voyager was built almost entirely from lightweight materials — fiberglass, carbon fiber, and Kevlar. Its unladen weight was just 2,250 pounds, but it was designed to carry 7,011 pounds of fuel. Fully loaded for the flight, it weighed 9,694.5 pounds, more than four times its empty weight. The aircraft’s structure had to handle that massive fuel load while staying light enough to complete the journey.
On December 14, 1986, the Voyager took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California. Around 3,500 members of the press were on hand. The takeoff was immediately troubled — the wingtips, heavy with fuel, scraped the runway and the winglets at both ends broke off. Burt Rutan, watching from a chase plane, made the call to press on.
The nine days that followed pushed Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager to their limits. The cockpit was tight and conditions were grueling. At one stretch, Dick Rutan spent close to three days straight at the controls. The crew navigated around Typhoon Marge and dealt with a fuel pump failure near the end of the route.
On December 23, 1986, the Voyager touched down at Edwards Air Force Base. The flight lasted 9 days, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds. Thousands of spectators were at the airfield, and millions more watched on television. Dick Rutan, Jeana Yeager, and their team received the 1986 Collier Trophy for the achievement.
The feat went unmatched for 20 years. In 2006, Steve Fossett completed a solo non-stop around-the-world flight in the Virgin Atlantic Global Flyer — an aircraft also designed by Burt Rutan.
