On December 23, 1986, the Burt Rutan-designed Voyager aircraft landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California, completing the first non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world by an airplane. Its flight of 26,366 statute miles lasted 9 days, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds, piloted by Dick Rutan (Burt’s brother) and Jeanna Yeager.
Burt Rutan made his reputation with innovative designs for homebuilt aircraft, including the VariViggen, VariEze, Long-EZ, and others. He and brother Dick conceived the idea of a non-stop, non-refueled, around-the-world flight in 1980. They predicted the project would take 18 months. It took 6 years.
Construction of the Voyager began in the summer of 1982, with a first flight two years later. The airframe was built without metal components. The main material used was a composite sandwich of paper honeycomb and graphite fiber, molded and oven-cured.
Voyager is, in effect, a flying fuel tank. Its gross takeoff weight for the record flight was 9,694.5 lbs., of which 7,011 lbs. was fuel, carried in 17 tanks. When the flight ended nine days later, only 140 lbs. of fuel remained.
Power comes from two engines, one at each end of the fuselage. The rear engine, a 110-hp air-cooled Teledyne Continental IOL-200 ran for all but 8 minutes of the flight, when a fuel feed problem shut it down. The front engine, a 130-hp, air-cooled Teledyne Continental O-240, provided takeoff and climb power, and backup for the rear engine.
Voyager’s official average speed during the around-the-world flight was 116 mph. Its altitude averaged around 11,000 feet, climbing as high as 20,500 ft. Voyager’s route was set with the help of a team of meteorologists who guided the pilots around storms and into favorable winds.
Burt Rutan made his reputation with innovative designs for homebuilt aircraft, including the VariViggen, VariEze, Long-EZ, and others. He and brother Dick conceived the idea of a non-stop, non-refueled, around-the-world flight in 1980. They predicted the project would take 18 months. It took 6 years.
Construction of the Voyager began in the summer of 1982, with a first flight two years later. The airframe was built without metal components. The main material used was a composite sandwich of paper honeycomb and graphite fiber, molded and oven-cured.
Voyager is, in effect, a flying fuel tank. Its gross takeoff weight for the record flight was 9,694.5 lbs., of which 7,011 lbs. was fuel, carried in 17 tanks. When the flight ended nine days later, only 140 lbs. of fuel remained.
Power comes from two engines, one at each end of the fuselage. The rear engine, a 110-hp air-cooled Teledyne Continental IOL-200 ran for all but 8 minutes of the flight, when a fuel feed problem shut it down. The front engine, a 130-hp, air-cooled Teledyne Continental O-240, provided takeoff and climb power, and backup for the rear engine.
Voyager’s official average speed during the around-the-world flight was 116 mph. Its altitude averaged around 11,000 feet, climbing as high as 20,500 ft. Voyager’s route was set with the help of a team of meteorologists who guided the pilots around storms and into favorable winds.
Voyager’s flight was a stunning triumph, accomplished by Rutan’s project team, a host of volunteers, many small private contributions, and no government sponsorship.
To Remi, intesresting book! :P
1 comentari:
;)
Publica un comentari a l'entrada