is also the name of the first aircraft
ever to fly around the world without stopping or re-fuelling. The same aircraft (and the same flight) also holds the world record for the greatest distance
ever flown by a powered aircraft without re-fuelling, and the longest duration
. The distance is officially logged as 26,366 miles (40,212 km), while the total time from take-off to landing was 9 days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds.
The unpowered Breitling Orbiter 3 balloon subsequently took the records for longest flight in terms of distance and duration
The aircraft, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager took off on the morning of December 14, 1986, from Edwards Air Force Base in California and landed on the same runway on December 23rd, with just 8.4 gallons of fuel to spare.
The original aircraft is now housed in the entrance hall to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, alongside the Wright Brothers ‘flyer’, Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St Louis, Chuck Yeager’s Bell X-1 and many other original aircraft which achieved landmark flights.
The Voyager aircraft was designed by Rutan’s brother, Elbert L. (Burt) Rutan, and weighed just 939 pounds (426 kg) unladen and unfuelled. The all-up take-off weight at the start of the record-breaking flight was 9,694.5 pounds (4397 kg). The extra weight was mostly due to 7000 pounds of fuel, but also included supplies and pilots.
Many will remember the take-off run along the huge runway at Edwards. The plane started off with its wingtips touching the ground, and as it gradually picked up speed, over its long, long take-off run, the wingtips continued to rub along the ground, getting more and more abraded, until the very last moment. Suddenly, like magic, the aerodynamic forces gave enough lift to raise them into the air, and very shortly after, the whole craft left the ground, seemingly hanging from its up-turned wingtips. Within the first few minutes of the flight, Rutan had to shake off the damaged portions with some careful flying, in order to reduce drag.
The craft had two propellers, a normal prop at the front of the aircraft and a pusher prop at the tail end of the main fuselage. The front prop was supposed to be used only at take-off and initial climb to provide the speed and lift needed to take it from ground level up to its cruising altitude around 11 000 feet (3300m), the pusher was used in the main cruise. Unfortunately, in the final hours of the flight, problems with a fuel pump stopped fuel reaching the rear prop, and the front prop was switched on once more. Rutan identified the problem, and after switching off both engines, was then able to re-start the rear prop.
As a design, the craft looked a little like a trimaran, with a single, central fuselage, 72 feet long and 2 feet wide (internal dimensions) and two outriggers. A canard wing at the front gave lift and stability, while the main wing (span 110 feet/ 33m) provides the primary lift. Two outriggers extend backwards, and each supports a tailfin. The whole is made of a honeycomb composite shell. The craft was relatively fragile, and both pilots took off knowing that strong winds (above about 83 knots) would tear off the wings, leaving the aircraft to plummet out of the sky.