Richard Glenn Rutan (July 1, 1938 – May 3, 2024) was an American military aviator and officer, as well as a record-breaking test pilot who in 1986 piloted the Voyager aircraft on the first non-stop, non-refueled around-the-world flight with co-pilot Jeana Yeager. He was the older brother of famed aerospace designer Burt Rutan, whose many earlier original designs Dick piloted on class record-breaking flights, including Voyager.

Life and career

Dick Rutan was born in Loma Linda, California and raised in Dinuba, California, where he gained an interest in aviation at a young age. He learned to fly at age 15, taking his first solo flight on his 16th birthday, and later attended Reedley Junior College while waiting to report for the military. At Reedley College, he worked with aircraft engines toward getting an official FAA power plant license (also referred to as an Aviation Maintenance Technician). Through his interest in piloting, he went on to earn commercial, instrument, multiengine, seaplane and instructor certificates.

U.S. Air Force

After completing the Radar Intercept Officer Course, Rutan served as a McDonnell F-101B Voodoo Radar Intercept Officer with the 322d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Kingsley Field, Oregon, from December 1959 to September 1961, and then as a Northrop F-89 Scorpion Radar Intercept Officer with the 57th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Keflavik Airport, Iceland, from September 1961 to October 1962. His next assignment was as a Douglas C-124 Globemaster II navigator with the 85th Air Transport Squadron at Travis AFB, California, from October 1962 to November 1965. He underwent Undergraduate Pilot Training, earning his Pilot Wings at Laughlin AFB, Texas, in December 1966.

Vietnam War

Rutan served during the Vietnam War as one of the founding members of the "Mistys" of Operation Commando Sabre,

Rutan then served as a Flight Test Maintenance Officer with the 3030th Support Squadron at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, from April 1972 to May 1975, followed by service as an LTV A-7 Corsair II pilot and Commander of the 355th Field Maintenance Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, from May 1975 to August 1976. After completing an Operation Bootstrap degree program, Rutan served as Chief of the Training Division with the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing at Davis-Monthan AFB from January 1977 until his retirement from the Air Force on June 1, 1978.

Post military career

right|upright=1.15|thumb|The [[Rutan Voyager, flown by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, designed by Burt Rutan]]

Rutan also acted as a test pilot throughout his career, flying multiple designs such as the Fairchild T-46 in 1981 and the XCOR EZ-Rocket in 2001.

From December 14 to 23, 1986, Rutan flew with Jeana Yeager on the first unrefueled non-stop flight around the world in the Rutan Voyager, a design by his brother Burt. The flight took 9 days, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds and covered 24,986 miles (40,211 km). It attracted world wide media coverage and set multiple records. That same year, Yeager and the Rutan brothers were awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Aero Club, the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Ronald Reagan, and the Collier Trophy for their achievement.

In 1997, Dick Rutan and Mike Melvill flew two personally-built Rutan Long-EZ kit aircraft side-by-side around the world. This "around the world in 80 nights" flight was called The Spirit of EAA Friendship World Tour, and some legs of it lasted for over 14 hours.

On December 3, 2005, in the XCOR EZ-Rocket, Rutan set the point-to-point distance record for a ground-launched, rocket-powered aircraft, flying 16 km from Mojave, California, to California City, California, in just under ten minutes. This was also the first official delivery of U.S. Mail by a rocket-powered aircraft.

Death

Rutan died from pulmonary fibrosis as a complication of long COVID on May 3, 2024, at a hospital in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. He was 85.

Records

Besides the records Rutan set while flying the XCOR EZ-Rocket, which consisted of a point-to-point distance record and being the first official delivery of U.S. Mail by a rocket-powered aircraft, and while flying Voyager, which consisted of multiple absolute distance records, an airspeed record, and being the first plane to fly non-stop and unrefueled around the world, more than doubling the old distance record set by a Boeing B-52 strategic bomber in 1962, he also set a number in his personal Rutan VariEze and Long-EZ, including:

  • FAI class C1b distance over a closed course of 2,636 km at Oshkosh, Wisconsin circa July–August 1975
  • FAI class C1b distance over a closed course of 7,725.3 km at Mojave, California on December 15, 1979
  • FAI class C1b distance of 7,344.56&nbsp;km from Anchorage, Alaska to Grand Turk Island on June 5, 1981<!--search FAI by clicking Records, type in Rutan-->

Rutan believed that by engaging in a program of breaking class records he could further fine-tune his brother's homebuilt aircraft designs.

Awards and honors

Military decorations and medals

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|colspan="3"|US Air Force Senior Pilot Badge

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|colspan="3"|Silver Star

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|Distinguished Flying Cross<br />>w/ Valor device and 3 bronze oak leaf clusters

|Distinguished Flying Cross<br />(second ribbon required for accouterment spacing)

|Purple Heart

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|Air Medal<br />w/ 3 silver oak leaf clusters

|Air Force Commendation Medal<br />w/ 1 bronze oak leaf cluster

|Air Force Presidential Unit Citation

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|Air Force Outstanding Unit Award<br />w/ Valor device

|Combat Readiness Medal

|National Defense Service Medal

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|Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal

|Vietnam Service Medal<br />w/ 3 bronze campaign stars

|Air Force Longevity Service Award<br />w/ 1 silver and 2 bronze oak leaf clusters

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|Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon

|Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross

|Vietnam Campaign Medal

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Civilian awards

thumb|upright|Rutan and Yeager in 1986

  • 1981 – Louis Bleriot Medal - distance record
  • 1986 – Presidential Citizens Medal (with the rest of the Voyager team: Jeana Yeager and Burt Rutan)
  • 1986 – Collier Trophy (with Voyager team), for "the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics"
  • 1986 – De la Vaulx Medal (with Yeager), around-the-world flight in Voyager
  • 1987 – Louis Bleriot Medal, around-the-world flight
  • 1987 – National Air and Space Museum Trophy (with Yeager)
  • 1987 – SETP Iven C. Kincheloe Award (with Voyager co-pilot Jeana Yeager)
  • 1988 – Edward Longstreth Medal of the Franklin Institute
  • 2002 – National Aviation Hall of Fame inductee at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
  • 2005 – Louis Bleriot Medal, longest point-to-point rocket plane flight (XCOR EZ-Rocket)
  • 2011 – International Air & Space Hall of Fame inductee at the San Diego Air & Space Museum
  • 2013 – Flying magazine ranked him (along with Yeager) No. 33 on their list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation
  • 2014 – SETP Fellow inductee
  • 2022 – Mojave Air & Space Port is renamed "Rutan Field" in honor of the Rutan brothers' contributions

References

  • Remarks on Presenting Presidential Citizens Medals to the Designer and Crew of the Voyager in Los Angeles, California - December 29, 1986
  • Biography in the National Aviation Hall of Fame