America's Forgotten Heroes

Dick Rutan Breaks a Promise


Listen Later

By the mid 1980s, all of the aviation records that had so challenged the imaginations of pilots and the public alike had been achieved… except for one. Lindbergh had crossed the Atlantic. Aircraft had flown to both poles. Even the vast Pacific had been conquered. American jet bombers had flown around the world, but only after multiple refueling events. The only thing left to do that had not been done was to fly around the world, non-stop, on a single tank of gas. Dick Rutan had been a fighter pilot over Vietnam. He and his friend Mike Melville, who would go on to become the first private citizen in space, had flown around the world in the starkly original, otherworldly aircraft designed by his younger brother, Burt Rutan. Together with a relatively inexperienced pilot named Jenna Yeager, Dick Rutan started to plan for this impossible flight, assuming that his legendary younger brother could design a plane that could do it. The result was a bizarre, insect-like creation named Voyager; a flying fuel tank with about as much interior space as a telephone booth. At 8:01 am Pacific on the morning of December 14th, 1986, Dick Rutan and Jenna Yeager sealed themselves into Voyager and took off from Edwards Air Force base in California’s Mojave Desert and headed west. The plan was for each pilot to fly three hour legs, but it immediately became clear that Voyager was so fragile and unstable that Dick would do virtually all of the flying. The world had marveled at Charles Lindbergh for remaining awake for his 33 hour flight, but when Voyager, which had taken off into the west, arrived over Mojave coming in from the east, Dick Rutan had been flying for 216 hours pretty much non-stop. The last of the great aviation records had fallen due to the courage, endurance and persistence of Dick Rutan and the design genius of his brilliant younger brother, Burt.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

America's Forgotten HeroesBy The Daily Wire

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

3,974 ratings


More shows like America's Forgotten Heroes

View all
PragerU 5-Minute Videos by PragerU

PragerU 5-Minute Videos

6,837 Listeners

The Glenn Beck Program by Blaze Podcast Network

The Glenn Beck Program

25,662 Listeners

Louder with Crowder by Louder with Crowder

Louder with Crowder

37,416 Listeners

The Andrew Klavan Show by The Daily Wire

The Andrew Klavan Show

22,715 Listeners

The Ben Shapiro Show by The Daily Wire

The Ben Shapiro Show

153,262 Listeners

The Rubin Report by Dave Rubin

The Rubin Report

14,133 Listeners

Bill Whittle Network by Bill Whittle Network

Bill Whittle Network

757 Listeners

The Michael Knowles Show by The Daily Wire

The Michael Knowles Show

29,547 Listeners

The Matt Walsh Show by The Daily Wire

The Matt Walsh Show

27,934 Listeners

Another Kingdom by The Daily Wire

Another Kingdom

508 Listeners

The Cold War: Prelude To The Present by The Daily Wire

The Cold War: Prelude To The Present

7,792 Listeners

Crossroads with Joshua Philipp by The Epoch Times

Crossroads with Joshua Philipp

566 Listeners

Verdict with Ted Cruz by Premiere Networks

Verdict with Ted Cruz

44,047 Listeners

Crain & Company by The Daily Wire

Crain & Company

1,609 Listeners

Young Heretics by Spencer Klavan

Young Heretics

4,452 Listeners

The Dershow by Alan Dershowitz | Kast Media

The Dershow

2,082 Listeners

Enough by The Daily Wire

Enough

3,884 Listeners

Candace Owens by The Daily Wire

Candace Owens

15,507 Listeners

Debunked by The Daily Wire

Debunked

1,528 Listeners

The Victor Davis Hanson Show by Victor Davis Hanson and Jack Fowler

The Victor Davis Hanson Show

8,989 Listeners

Office Hours with Georgia Howe by The Daily Wire

Office Hours with Georgia Howe

533 Listeners

Morning Wire by The Daily Wire

Morning Wire

26,505 Listeners

American Conservative University by American Conservative University

American Conservative University

610 Listeners

DW Entertainment by The Daily Wire

DW Entertainment

278 Listeners

The Tucker Carlson Show by Tucker Carlson Network

The Tucker Carlson Show

15,609 Listeners