Voyager

The unpowered Breitling Orbiter 3 balloon subsequently took the records for longest flight in terms of distance and duration

The aircraft, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager took off on the morning of December 14, 1986, from Edwards Air Force Base in California and landed on the same runway on December 23rd, with just 8.4 gallons of fuel to spare.

The original aircraft is now housed in the entrance hall to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, alongside the Wright Brothers `flyer', Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St Louis, Chuck Yeager's Bell X-1 and many other original aircraft which achieved landmark flights.

The Voyager aircraft was designed by Rutan's brother, Elbert L. (Burt) Rutan, and weighed just 939 pounds (426 kg) unladen and unfuelled. The all-up take-off weight at the start of the record-breaking flight was 9,694.5 pounds (4397 kg). The extra weight was mostly due to 7000 pounds of fuel, but also included supplies and pilots.

Many will remember the take-off run along the huge runway at Edwards. The plane started off with its wingtips touching the ground, and as it gradually picked up speed, over its long, long take-off run, the wingtips continued to rub along the ground, getting more and more abraded, until the very last moment. Suddenly, like magic, the aerodynamic forces gave enough lift to raise them into the air, and very shortly after, the whole craft left the ground, seemingly hanging from its up-turned wingtips. Within the first few minutes of the flight, Rutan had to shake off the damaged portions with some careful flying, in order to reduce drag.

The craft had two propellers, a normal prop at the front of the aircraft and a pusher prop at the tail end of the main fuselage. The front prop was supposed to be used only at take-off and initial climb to provide the speed and lift needed to take it from ground level up to its cruising altitude around 11 000 feet (3300m), the pusher was used in the main cruise. Unfortunately, in the final hours of the flight, problems with a fuel pump stopped fuel reaching the rear prop, and the front prop was switched on once more. Rutan identified the problem, and after switching off both engines, was then able to re-start the rear prop.

As a design, the craft looked a little like a trimaran, with a single, central fuselage, 72 feet long and 2 feet wide (internal dimensions) and two outriggers. A canard wing at the front gave lift and stability, while the main wing (span 110 feet/ 33m) provides the primary lift. Two outriggers extend backwards, and each supports a tailfin. The whole is made of a honeycomb composite shell. The craft was relatively fragile, and both pilots took off knowing that strong winds (above about 83 knots) would tear off the wings, leaving the aircraft to plummet out of the sky.

Sources

• http://www.au.af.mil/au/goe/eaglebios/88bios/yeagj88.htm
• http://users.commkey.net/fussichen/otdFly.htm
• http://www.dickrutan.com/

1996 album from Mike Oldfield. Personally, I believe this is one of his best albums (along with The Songs of Distant Earth and, of course, Tubular Bells). I got this album before TSODE, and I was positively surprised. I guessed it was good, but I never knew it was that good =)

The album is going very much back to the "dreamy" past; the tune is (as reinforced by the arrangements) deeply Celtic. All songs are instrumental, Mike's amazing guitar skills cut right to the essence of the songs; I particularly liked the solos in Wild Goose etc... I liked The Song of the Sun best, but none of the other songs fall far behind; the traditional (in Mike's terms) 12-minute piece Mont St. Michel is particularly impressive.

The opening song is from a group called Luar na Lubre. Also, some songs are credited as "traditional" tunes, but are not: Women of Ireland was made by Seán Ó Riada and Dark Island by Iain McLachlan. (I heard this from tubular.net...)

Songs:

1. The Song of the Sun
2. Celtic Rain
3. The Hero*
4. Women of Ireland*
5. The Voyager
6. She Moved Through the Fair*
7. Dark Island*
8. Wild Goose Flaps its Wings
9. Flowers of the Forest*
10. Mont St Michel

* = trad. arr. by Mike Oldfield (but see note), others by Mike Oldfield, except for the first track (by Bieito Romero).

Voy"a*ger (?), n. [Cf. F. voyager traveling.]

One who voyages; one who sails or passes by sea or water.

© Webster 1913.