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As a Tactical Air Command fighter pilot during most of his two decades in the Air Force, Dick Rutan flew 325 combat missions in Vietnam, 105 of them as a member of a high-risk classified operation commonly known as the “MISTY’s.” While on his last strike reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam in September of 1968, his aircraft was hit by enemy ground fire, and he was forced to eject from his burning F-100. Rutan evaded enemy capture and was later rescued by the Air Force’s “Jolly Green Giant” helicopter team. After retirement, Dick and his brother Burt formed Rutan Aircraft Factory, where Dick flew the test flight development programs of many military and civilian experimental aircraft and set numerous world speed and distance records. In the early 80s, he founded Voyager Aircraft, Inc. and on the morning of December 14, 1986, Voyager took off, landing nine days, three minutes and forty four seconds later at Edwards Air Force Base in California, successfully completing the six-year quest. The Voyager is now proudly suspended in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum’s “Milestones of Flight” gallery in Washington, D.C. Dick Rutan is also proud to be a governing member of the emerging space tourism industry. He formed an enterprise called Voyager Aerospace Corporation and has several projects emerging with this company – two of them are unique aircraft. Since Voyager’s world flight, Dick Rutan has been traveling the world, speaking to audiences and sharing his tales of the magnificent Voyager project and of his other adventures. The Voyager story is one of tremendous courage, vision and adventure and is often referred to as “aviation’s last first.” Read more…