European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 6, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Burt Rutan designer of the voyager which was piloted by flu Tan s brother Dick and jeans Yeager above being honoured by president Reagan in december. 1960, and soon began grooming her As a Pilot in her own fight soon afterwards he resigned from his brother s company since Ihen. Jeana and i have Boon living mostly at my Mother s and eating food she put on our he said we did t have much Money in the tirs place and we put every thing we had Inlo voyager " in 19b1 Burl and Dick Rulan wore eating at Adinor when Burl began making sketches on the Backol a Napkin and outlining his ideas Tor an unit fuelled round the world Light As the two men exchanged ideas we go More and More enthusiastic they later recalled and the voyager was born. Burl Rulan a idly completed the design and assigned several of his most highly skilled employees who often worked without pay. Id help his brother and Yeager in the fabrication although the voyager s wings Are longer than those of a Boeing 727 Airliner Assembly of the Crall had More in common Wilh the cons Duclion of a Model air plane than with most Teal plane unlike conventional Menai air planes the voyager has virtual no internal Frame ofic it1 am is Sulf supporting to make each component o inn Plum in but dvrs Firul made a Dummy nut of Ori Jutt,1 Kaiui other shop Malc mols the no1 i trip Vas to iilfcf1 n pm t a i o r.,v of the Duratny find in j Fol co in Cri Rii Riv cd Steps of Carbon fiber Lapi a with l Poy form f x Rem forced Wiki precise jul Kirin a Hui ski. Cart n fibres is one of Ihus Foi Joi i a nth Hgtiti-1. in existence and is in Hir you Iran us Tennis Jakul i. Rocket casings and even some airliners. Most of tie Carbon fiber tape used in the voyager is a product donated by the Hercules aerospace co. Called Magna mitc. After allowing the Carbon fiber tape to Harden in its Mold the builders generally backed it Wilh a thick layer of Nome a paper honeycomb impregnated with epoxy. And another layer of Carbon Liber tape. The Sandwich thus fabricated was finally cured in an improvised oven and emerged As a finished part ready be epoxy bonded to adjoining sections assembled in loan air plane polished and painted while. By 1984 the voyager air Iamo was essentially finished and Richard Rulan and yrs Ign Cronrod a new company. Voyager Ai Cratl incan their to Jve air Pool quarters at 77 the voyager underwent Small design change i. It evolved. And when its now Continental engine arrived from Mobile Ala. Iho plane needed a now Cowling to a Commodaro the engine s shape. A commercial aircraft manufacturer would probably have worked out the Cowling s contours using computer simulations wind Tunnel posts and months of study. But the voyager craftsman Bruce Evans made a new Cowling in just a few Days. I simply shaped the Mold unlit in fit fio engine and looked Aboul right to said. Then 1 cast and cured the Cowling and Hal was plagued by financial problems. Voyager aircraft began Selling souvenirs and accepting Cash donations from the Many curious hangar visitors who had seen the air plane overhead on its Early lest i lights a Lew Largo businesses donated essential equipment the King radio corp. Supplied $230,000 Worth of radio and navigation gadgets. The voyager also had help ram tet Odyne Continental motors in the form of a specially Modi hed liquid cooled Power Plant designed to be used As the cruising engine. The voyager has two engines one of which was shut Down for much of the flight to conserve gasoline despite some fuel How problems the new engine performed reliably in the nine Day flight. And Continental intends to Market the Lype. Now named the voyager engine. The Rutan Brothers concede that they argue frequently and disagreements Between them persisted almost to the moment the voyager began its round the world flight. A particular Bone of Contention was weight i knew from the Burl Rulan recalled thai anything we put Inlo that air plane would exact a Price. Ii would Cut Inlo Iho weigh of fuel voyager could carry and therefore Inlo the safely margin Hal might moan the difference Between life and in another conversation Dick Rulan alluded to the argument. As a Long Lime combat Pilot i had acquired a healthy Lear of weather to said and i Damn Well was t going to Sot out around the world without weather radar in the plane. Burt said the meteorologists would guide us around storms but i knew belter. When you up there All by yourself things look tulle real " the weather radar was duly installed in the voyager As were some oxygen tanks and other heavy objects i was t Happy Edh our final weight sure Rutan said. He said the group hoped the plane would weigh 2,400 pounds empty and we ended up weighing Aboul 2.6so pounds he continued there was one Lime during the flight that i was afraid Dick and Jeana s fuel Reserve was going to be real marginal bul everything turned out All the voyager was filled from end to end inn fuel ils main wings outrigger booms canard Wing and fuselage All served As Lanks for Beaity 9.000 pounds 01 1 boo Gallons of aviation gasoline. The fuel weighed some three limes As much As the air plane itself one of the reasons to had so much i rouble finding suitable corporate sponsors Dick Hulan said was that a lol of our prospects had visions of All that gasoline going up in a ballot Tiro Wilh Ihei logos visible through the Llames " Dick Rulan and Yeager May make a Finai flight in the voyager to gel Illo the air and space museum in Washington bul it is unlikely they will Ever Fly it for pleasure. The two describe the plane As a beast with wildly flapping wings whose rolling heaving lurches i Hougil the sky Are enough to sicken con Strong stomachs Yeager was particularly Prono to air sickness in she Crall and the Lack of toilet facilities in the plane added to the general discomfort the pilots used plastic bags Thiol they tossed overboard despite us Many shortcomings the voyage i survived storms and blasts of turbulence that might have Wiec cd a Tosser air plane Chu Grainy so daily . It earned iwo people on a Smolc Load of fuel a Lowr than any had Over grave Lccy before oven in a specially Tiu Riched a a Force bom her the Vay Riger was o ii red in a it Krinic but 11 realized a Drc Ani whet looks like the latest in egyptian fashions is Light Strong Excel honeycomb that Matt up 80 percent of volume of voyager s wings Tutelage. February a 1987 the stars and stripes Poge 15
