At a Glance: The Voyager Pilots

DICK RUTAN:

The 49-year-old retired Air Force lieutenant colonel flew 325 combat fighter missions during the Vietnam War, including 105 sorties over North Vietnam. He was shot down on his last mission and was rescued.

He has 34 years of flying experience. His 7,200 hours of flying time include 2,000 hours in military high-performance aircraft.

After his retirement from the Air Force in 1978, Rutan tried his hand at civil aviation but soon tired of the pace. Anxious to leave his mark, he founded Voyager Aircraft Inc. with Yeager in 1981 and began building the Voyager from plans designed by his brother, aircraft designer Burt Rutan. He holds 10 speed and endurance records, including four records set in the Voyager with Yeager.

JEANA YEAGER:

Yeager, 34, is a soft-spoken, painfully shy woman who holds nine speed and endurance records in aviation, including four in the Voyager.

She has worked for 14 years in engineering design, including several years with retired Navy Capt. Bob Truax, who has been trying to develop a privately owned manned space program.

She has flown all but three of the Voyager’s 65 test flights and set speed records in two other planes designed by Voyager creator Burt Rutan.

Part of her assignment during the Voyager flight will be to pump fuel back and forth between the plane’s 17 fuel tanks to maintain stability. That chore was particularly important immediately after takeoff when even a slight imbalance in the heavy fuel load could have been disastrous.