Hear Voyager story again at Plane Crazy

MOJAVE — Early in the morning of Dec. 14, 1986, pilot Dick Rutan sat at the end of the fabled runway at Edwards Air Force Base at the controls of a one-of-a-kind airplane designed by his kid brother, Burt. Rutan and his co-pilot Jeana Yeager were about to embark on a historic nonstop, around-the-world, unrefueled flight in the Voyager.

The Voyager, essentially a flying fuel tank, landed on the same legendary runway, nine days, three minutes and 44 seconds later, before tens of thousands of spectators and news cameras. The flight propelled Rutan and Yeager into the record books, along with designer Burt Rutan. The aircraft itself now hangs in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington.



Kelly Hall, Rutan’s longtime assistant who co-authored his final book “The Next Five Minutes: Embracing the Impossible,” was among the small army of volunteers who made the historic flight possible. Hall first met Rutan when she came to work on the Voyager project nearly 40 years ago, and stayed as his assistant and friend in the decades since until his death in May at age 85. Hall will share her memories of the record-setting flight and the years of work that preceded it on Saturday at the Mojave Air and Space Port, where the Voyager was built.

“It was a miracle that they made it back,” organizer Cathy Hansen said. Hall’s presentation will begin at 11 a.m.

in the Board Room, in the Administration Building at the end of Airport Boulevard. Seating is limited, and reservations may be made by emailing [email protected] .

A donation to the foundation is requested. Hall will also have copies of “The Next Five Minutes” on hand for sale for $25. “It’s a great story and a great book,” Hansen said.

Hall’s talk is part of Plane Crazy Saturday, the monthly gathering of aviation enthusiasts hosted by the Mojave Transportation Museum Foundation. The free, family-friend­ly educational event feat­ures a flight line filled with aircraft of varied types and vintages, avail­able for visitors to see up close. The event will run from 10 a.

m. to 2 p.m.

Ad­mis­sion to the flight line with its displays is through the Voy­ager restaurant, in the Administration building. Dogs and other an­im­als, other than ser­vice animals, are not per­mitted on the flight line..