This weekend, the aviation world mourns the loss of a pioneer in the industry. Remembering USAF Lt Col (ret) Dick Rutan, an aviation legend and decorated combat veteran.
Rutan passed away on May 3, while battling a severe lung infection. Close friend Bill Whittle said Rutan died on “his own terms when he decided against enduring a second night on oxygen.” Rutan passed away surrounded by friends and family in Idaho.
It all started at an air show
Like many youngsters, the seed for a life of aviation was planted young when Rutan’s mother brought him to an air show. What really caught his attention was an F-100 Super Sabre, and the pilots who flew it.
“I looked up at the pilot, as a little kid and I thought, man, I would really like to be that, but there would be no fine way I could ever do that,” recalled Rutan during a speech in 2010. “Fighter pilots, they’re a different species.”
He always credited his mother for supporting his dreams and goals. “She admonished me when I said that there wasn’t any way I could become a fighter pilot,” he recalled. “She taught us that if you can dream it, you can do it, and the only way to fail is if you quit.”
Rutan always wanted to be a fighter pilot, so that’s what he did
Richard Glenn Rutan was plane-crazy from that moment on. He earned his private on his 16th birthday, and his driver license (yes he got them the same day). His dream plane to fly, was the F-100 Super Sabre.
So, he joined the USAF Aviation Cadet Program. Rutan became a second lieutenant, earned his navigator wings, and was deployed to Iceland to fly Northrop’s F-89 Scorpion. He then flew the Douglas C-124 Globemaster.
After accumulating 1,900 flight hours as a navigator, he entered pilot training and graduated at the top of his class in 1967.
He got his dream jet too, the F-100. However, it would also mean he was being sent to combat in South Vietnam. He started flying ground attack missions, but soon became a forward air controller (FAC) in the Commando Sabre program, more commonly known as the the secretive MISTY program.
Rutan survived being shot down and was highly decorated
Rutan was responsible for loitering over enemy positions ahead of strike packages as “Misty Four-Zero”, marking targets for the strike aircraft to attack.
He was shot down on such a mission too, his 325th flight during his third tour. It wouldn’t be his only emergency ejection either. He later had to punch out of another Super Sabre in England when it suffered an engine malfunction.
He received many awards in his time serving, including the Silver Star and the Purple Heart. Rutan was also awarded 16 Air Medals and five Distinguished Flying Crosses.
One of the Super Sabres he flew is now on display at the National Museum of the USAF in Dayton, OH.
Rutan retired and became a test pilot
After retiring from the USAF in 1978, Rutan became a Production Manager and Chief Test Pilot for his brother Burt’s company, Rutan Aircraft Factory.
Dick flew the test flight development programs for several military and civilian experimental aircraft. He also flew air show demos.
However, Rutan still had an itch that needed scratching.
Dick Rutan joined Jeana Yeager to set the last great aviation record to date
He met Jeana Yeager in 1980, and together began pursuing a goal to fly nonstop, around-the-world, without refueling. He resigned from his brother’s company in 1981, and founded Voyager Aircraft, Inc.
Together they flew the Voyager over 26,000 miles, taking off and returning to Edwards AFB. The plane was designed by his famous brother, Burt.
Dreams however take money, and aviation dreams take a LOT of money. To fund their idea, and bring publicity, Rutan decided to set several aircraft speed and endurance records before his big round the world flight. In 1981 he set a distance record of 4,563 statute miles for an aircraft weighing less than 1,000 kilograms. Soon after, he set a closed-course speed record for both 500 and 2,000 kilometers.
Rutan was a hot air balloon pilot, too
It would seem that, if it could fly, Rutan wanted to fly it. He earned his balloon pilot’s license in 1995 (Commercial free air balloon; helium and hot air). Of course, he had a record setting vision for hot-air balloons, too.
He attempted the first ever flight around the world flight in a balloon in 1998. He didn’t get very far. The mission ended three hours after takeoff when his balloon’s helium cell ruptured at 30,000 feet. Rutan and his crew bailed out safely at 6,000 ft, before the balloon crashed to the ground and burst into flames.
He vowed to try again, and built a new balloon and capsule for it. Another team, however, beat him to the record in 1998.
Dick Rutan was rescued from the North Pole after his plane fell through ice
No stranger to adventure, Dick Rutan decided to sightsee the North Pole on an airplane trek in 2000. The season however was unusually warm.
Flying a Russian AN-2 Antonov, they landed on what appeared to be good ice. However, it was too thin, and before they could takeoff to find a different location, the plane had already started sinking into the frozen abyss.
The plane was sinking nose first into the water, but its wings held it above the surface long enough for the crew to escape with their survival equipment. Rutan and co were stranded at the top of the world for 12 hours, before being rescued.
More awards and records
While his flight around the world is what Dick Rutan will be most remembered for, his list of accomplishments would continue.
He was awarded a Presidential Citizens Medal, the Collier Trophy, the Order of Daedalians Distinguished Achievement Award, and was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2002.
Dick Rutan conducted the “shortest long-distance flight” ever in 2005, when he broke a world record for the longest distance in a ground-launched rocket-powered aircraft (called the EZ rocket). He flew it about 10 miles.
Rutan was honored with the Howard Hughes Memorial Award in 2021.
“He played an airplane like someone plays a grand piano.” – Burt Rutan
