Voyager Aircraft - SeaTac, WA - Static Aircraft Displays on Waymarking.com

The plaque says, "For years, flying around the world without refueling seemed like an impossible dream. However in 1963, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager began thinking about making that dream a reality. Rutan designed a lightweight aircraft made of composite materials, while Yeager raised money to build it. An army of more than 200 volunteers worked on nearly every phase of the project to push Rutan and Yeager's vision forward.

After six years of determination and hard work, success was finally archived when the aircraft, now named Voyager, departed Edwards Air Force Base on December 14, 1986 for a flight that would land them in the record books.

During their circumnavigation of the globe, Rutan and Yeager endured storms, and engine failure, and an inflight fuel pump change, all while confined in a cockpit no bigger than a telephone booth. Back at the Voyager Project's headquarters in Mojave, California, the volunteers watched and waited as the dream of a nonstop, non-refueled, around-the-world flight unfolded before their eyes.

The Pilots

Jeana Yeager was born in Fort Worth, Texas on May 18, 1952. In her distinguished flying career, she won many of aviation's highest awards. In 1987, Yeager became the first woman to receive the Collier Trophy, one of aviation's most coveted awarded. She also received the Iven C. Kincheloe Outstanding Test Pilot Award from the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. Yeager also won top honors from outside the United States, including the Gold Medal from the Royal Aero Club of the United Kingdom.

Numerous trophies, citations, and other awards were bestowed on Yeager and partner Dick Rutan after their record-breaking flight, including the Presidential Citizens Medal-granted only 16 times in US history-awarded by President Ronald Reagan.

As a boy, Dick Rutan was fascinated by airplanes and flying and took his first flight at six. A decade later, he received his pilot's and driver's licenses on the same day. After joining the U.S. Air Force, Rutan flew 325 missions over Vietnam. For 105 of them, he flew a high-risk operation known by the radio call-sign "MISTY". Hit by enemy ground fire on his last mission, Rutan ejected from the burning F-100 and was later rescued. Before retiring from the Air Force in 1978, Lieutenant Colonel Rutan was awarded the Silver Star, five Distinguished Flying Crosses, 16 Air Medals, and a Purple Heart.

In July 2002, Rutan was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio. When asked about how he views life, he stresses, "You are limited only by what you can dream."

The Voyager Aircraft

In 1981 flying around the world nonstop without refueling seemed like an unobtainable goal. The aircraft would need to be lightweight, strong, and fuel-efficient. Rutan's design featured graphite-composites to keep the weight down, two engine for power and safety, and 17 fuel tanks. Named Voyager, the aircraft was fragile yet strong. Since reducing weight was a key component in its design, there was no soundproofing the cramped cockpit. The noice in Voyager's cockpit averaged 110 decibels, louder than a lawn mower, and Rutan and Yeager were subjected to the constant noise for their entire nine-day trip.

Before their around-the-world flight, Rutan and Yeager made 69 test flights-each flight just a little longer than the last. Finally on December 14, 1986, Voyager was ready and departed Edwards Air Force Base in California. Rutan and Yeager circumnavigated the earth and returned to Edwards on December 23, 1986 with the official record of nine days, three minutes, and 44 seconds.

The Voyager Mock-up

This full-scale Voyager mock-up was made in Japan for the Japanese Expo in 1987. It could not have made it around the would, but it did make a spectacular display near the Russian MIR station in the same Expo pavilion."

Type of Aircraft: (make/model): Experimental Tail Number: (S/N): N269VA Construction:: replica Location (park, airport, museum, etc.): SeaTac International Airport inside / outside: inside Other Information:: N/A Access restrictions: International Terminal Checkin, lower level, prior to security.

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