Yeager, Jeana (1952—)

American aviator who earned distinction as the first woman to fly nonstop around the world without refueling. Born on May 18, 1952, in Fort Worth, Texas; studiedenergy, aerospace design and commercial engineer drafting; no relation to Chuck Yeager (the test pilot).

Was the first woman to fly around the world without refueling (1986); received Presidential Citizen's Medal of Honor (1986); co-authored Voyager with co-pilot Dick Rutan.

Born on May 18, 1952, Jeana Yeager went skydiving and flew helicopters while she was growing up in Fort Worth, Texas. In addition to energy and commercial engineer drafting, she studied aerospace design. After becoming a pilot, she set various records for speed while flying planes designed by Burt Rutan. Yeager had acquired ten years of piloting experience before she embarked on her nonstop flight around the world.

Yeager and her co-pilot Dick Rutan (Burt's brother) made history in 1986 when they completed their famous record-breaking trip. Their aircraft was the featherweight Voyager, a plane described as simply a flying fuel tank. In order to make their goal of flying around the world without stopping to refuel, the plane—which at 1,860 pounds weighed less than a car—carried more fuel than a gasoline tank truck (9,400 pounds of 100-octane gasoline). The state-of-the-art aircraft designed by Dick's brother Burt was built out of stiffened honeycomb paper and composite carbon-fiber materials. With a wing span larger than that of a Boeing 727, the Voyager was complete with the most up-to-date airfoil technology, weather satellite links, and navigational aids.

Beginning at Edwards Air Force Base in California's Mojave Desert, Yeager and Rutan's flight started on December 14, 1986. The trip was not a smooth one. The Voyager suffered damage to a wing, and Yeager reported that she and Rutan were thrown about the small cabin, 7′×4′ high, during a trip marked by a tremendous amount of turbulence as well as deafening noise from the plane's engine. During the flight, Yeager and Rutan used the radiator of the Voyager's engine to heat prepackaged food. When the trip ended back at Edwards Air Force Base on December 23, the pilots had flown 26,000 miles in 9 days, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds, and they had broken the previous mark of 12,532 miles set by a B-52 bomber in 1962. President Ronald Reagan honored Yeager and Rutan with the Presidential Citizen's Medal of Honor, and the Voyager was put on display in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

In 1987, Yeager and Rutan published a book about their preparation for the trip and experiences while flying around the world. The book also exposed their supposed friendship as a love affair that was severed a few months prior to the flight, but continued as a professional friendship for the trip and subsequent publicity appearances. Among the additional awards and honors Yeager has received are the Collier Trophy (1986), Certified World Records for closed circuit/great circle distance from the Federation Aeronatique Internationale (1987), the Patriot of the Year award, the Diamond Wings award, the Spirit of Flight award, and an honorary degree in science and technology from Central New England College.

sources:

Read, Phyllis J., and Bernard L. Witlieb. The Book of Women's Firsts. NY: Random House, 1992.

Susan Wessling , freelance writer, Worcester, Massachusetts