Voyager"On December 14, 1986, Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan took off from Edwards Air Force Base, in California's Mojave Desert, on their history-making flight--the first to circle the globe nonstop without refueling. The flight required almost superhuman physical and psychological effort--the two pilots spending nine days in an unpressurized cockpit, 3 1/2 feet wide by 7 feet long. The plane weighed less than an automobile (2,000 pounds empty) and carried 1,200 gallons of fuel. The nine-day flight took them west over the Pacific through violent winds and turbulences, through life-threatening mechanical failures, at times over forbidden countries. Both pilots experienced high spirits and exhausting emotional letdowns--until finally, on December 23, 48 hours ahead of schedule, Jeana Yeager and Dick Rutan completed the circle with their triumphal landing. Now they tell in vivid detail what it was like to make the flight, what happened during the years of dreaming, planning, and hard work that culminated in the triumph of Voyager, and what it was in their own lives that led them to their extraordinary partnership and undertaking. They take us from their growing-up years (he, racing motorcycles and learning to fly at fifteen; she, isolated, shy, but most of all fearless, from a very early age making horses the center of her life and training the 'untrainable'); through his years as a fighter jock, volunteering for 105 missions over North Vietnam; through her years of training to be the first woman in space (the project, privately funded, was ultimately abandoned); to their fateful meeting at an airshow in California, which led to the 'wild idea' of a revolutionary aeronautic exploit and to its fulfillment. We follow them through the years of grueling effort, of alternating setbacks and successes; through the struggle to raise funds to keep the project alive without any government support; through the building and testing of Voyager; to the ultimate completion of their great adventure. A fantastic story of two extraordinary spirits, and of a classic American against-all-odds achievement."--Dust jacket. |
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aerobatic aircraft airfoil airplane airport airspeed altitude autopilot aviation began Bruce Bruce Evans Burt Burt Rutan Burt's called canard canopy chase plane clouds coast flight cockpit crew Dick Dick Rutan Dick's Doug Doug Shane Edwards feed tank feel felt Fergy finally flew flown front engine fuel fuselage gear going ground hangar Hangar 77 head hell home-built Jack Norris Jeana Jutila knew landing Lee Herron Long EZ looked Mike Melvill miles mission control Mojave motor never night nose numbers okay oscillations oxygen pilot pitch porpoise problem prop pulled pump pushed radar radio running runway Rutan seemed sleep sort speed started sure takeoff talk test flight thing thought told Tom Jewett took trailer trying turbulence turned Vari Eze Voyager Voyager's wanted watch weather weight wind wing winglets wingtips world flight worried