My favorite female pilot
..is Jeana Yeager (no relation to Chuck), the crewmate of Dick Rutan on the "Voyager" around-the-world flight.
She helped build the airplane, then had the courage to get in it. On launch it scraped the winglets off the wing tips, weighted down by fuel. Then live in a mailing tube for 9 days, averaging 180 mph, dodging any kind of turbulence that might tear the wings off the craft, mostly over water (but ditching out of the question) other than a brief stint over Africa and the Isthmus. That flight was almost as dangerous as going to the Moon.
The engines had to work for 9 days. As they were approaching Edwards, a fuel flow problem caused the main engine to shut down. The secondary engine would not start (normal flight configuration has one engine feathered). They lost altitude steadily. Finally the secondary engine started up.
-drl
Edited by
deSitter
July 18, 2003, 05:44:47 AM EDT
My favorite female pilot
..is Jenna Yeager (no relation to Chuck), the crewmate of Dick Rutan on the "Voyager" around-the-world flight.
She helped build the airplane, then had the courage to get in it. On launch it scraped the winglets off the wing tips, weighted down by fuel. Then live in a mailing tube for 9 days, averaging 180 mph, dodging any kind of turbulence that might tear the wings off the craft, mostly over water (but ditching out of the question) other than a brief stint over Africa and the Isthmus. That flight was almost as dangerous as going to the Moon.
The engines had to work for 9 days. As they were approaching Edwards, a fuel flow problem caused the main engine to shut down. The secondary engine would not start (normal flight configuration has one engine feathered). They lost altitude steadily. Finally the secondary engine started up.
-drl
