Rutan Voyager - World Flight

World Flight

Voyager's world flight takeoff took place on the longest runway at Edwards AFB at 8:01 am local time on December 14, 1986 with 3,500 of the world's press in attendance. As the plane accelerated, the tips of the wings, which were heavily loaded with fuel, were damaged as they scraped against the runway (the pilot wanted to gain enough speed that the inner wings would lift the plane, not the fragile outer wings – in 67 test flights, the plane had never been loaded to capacity), ultimately causing pieces (winglets) to break off at both ends. The aircraft accelerated very slowly and needed approximately 14,200 feet (2.7 mi)(4.3 km) of the runway to gain enough speed to lift from the ground, the wings arching up dramatically just before take-off. During the flight, the two pilots had to deal with extremely cramped quarters. To reduce stress, the two had originally intended to fly the plane in three-hour shifts, but flight handling characteristics prevented routine changeovers and they became very fatigued.

The plane also continuously reminded the pilots of its pitch instability and fragility. They had to maneuver around bad weather numerous times, most perilously around the 600-mile-wide (1,000 km) Typhoon Marge. Libya denied access to the country's airspace, forcing precious fuel to be used. As they neared California to land, a fuel pump failed and had to be replaced with its twin pumping fuel from the other side of the aircraft.

In front of 55,000 spectators and a large press contingent, including 23 live feeds breaking into scheduled broadcasting across Europe and North America, the plane safely came back to earth, touching down at 8:06 a.m. at the same airfield 9 days after take-off. The average speed for the flight was 116 miles per hour (187 km/h). There were 106 lb (48 kg) of fuel remaining in the tanks, only about 1.5% of the fuel that had been loaded.

Sanctioned by the FAI and the AOPA, the flight was the first successful circumnavigation of the planet, passing the equator twice, non-stop, non-refueled. This has since been accomplished only one other time, by Steve Fossett in the Global Flyer. For the feat, Yeager, the Rutans, and crew chief/builder Bruce Evans received the 1986 Collier Trophy.

Voyager is now on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.