First circumnavigation by aircraft without refuelling
According to Official Guinness Records,
Richard G 'Dick' Rutan and Jeana Yeager (both USA) circumnavigated the world in a westward direction from Edwards Air Force Base, California, USA, in 9 days from 14 to 23 December 1986 without refuelling. The key to their success was their specially constructed aircraft Voyager, which was designed and constructed by Dick's brother Burt Rutan, owner of the company Scaled Composites, which achieved the first private space flight during 2004.Their flight took 9 days 3 mins 44 secs and they covered a distance of 40,212 km (24,987 miles) averaging 186.11 km/h (115.65 mph). The aircraft, with a wing span of 33.77 m (110 ft 10 in), took off with 4,576 litres (1,006.6 gal) of fuel weighing 3,180.4 kg (70 11 lb 8oz). The pilot flew in a cockpit area measuring 1.71 x 0.55 m (5 ft 7 in x 1 ft 10 in) and the off-duty crew member occupied a cabin area 2.29 x 0.61 m (7 ft 6 in x 2 ft). Voyager is in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA.