Richard Glenn Rutan (born July 1, 1938) is a retired

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

and

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...

test pilot A test pilot is an aircraft pilot with additional training to fly and evaluate experimental, newly produced and modified aircraft with specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques.Stinton, Darrol. ''Flying Qualities and Flight Testin ...

, and record-breaking

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

who in 1986 piloted the

Voyager Voyager may refer to: Computing and communications * LG Voyager, a mobile phone model manufactured by LG Electronics * NCR Voyager, a computer platform produced by NCR Corporation * Voyager (computer worm), a computer worm affecting Oracle ...

aircraft on the first non-stop, non-refueled around-the-world flight with co-pilot Jeana Yeager. He was born in

Loma Linda, California Loma Linda ( Spanish for "Beautiful Hill") is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States, that was incorporated in 1970. The population was 24,791 at the 2020 census, up from 23,261 at the 2010 census. The central area of the ...

, where he gained an interest in flying at a young age. He is the older brother of famed aerospace designer

Burt Rutan Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan (; born June 17, 1943) is a retired American aerospace engineer and entrepreneur noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, and energy-efficient air and space craft. He designed the recor ...

, whose many earlier original designs Dick piloted on class record-breaking flights, including Voyager.

Career

U.S. Air Force

After completing the Radar Intercept Officer Course, Rutan served as a

McDonnell F-101B Voodoo The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter which served the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Initially designed by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation as a long-range bomber escort (known as a '' ...

Radar Intercept Officer with the

322d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 322d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 408th Fighter Group at Kingsley Field, Oregon, where it was inactivated on 1 July 1968. The squadron was first activated durin ...

Kingsley Field Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base is the home base of the Oregon Air National Guard's 173rd Fighter Wing (173 FW). History In 1928, the citizens of Klamath Falls approved the sale of $50,000 worth of bonds to construct an airport. The air ...

, Oregon, from December 1959 to September 1961, and then as a

Northrop F-89 Scorpion The Northrop F-89 Scorpion was an American all-weather, twin-engined interceptor aircraft built during the 1950s, the first jet-powered aircraft designed for that role from the outset to enter service. Though its straight wings limited its per ...

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 The Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, nicknamed "Old Shaky", is an American heavy-lift cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California. The C-124 was the primary heavy-lift transport for United States Air Force (U ...

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 The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

as one of the founding members of the "Mistys" of Operation Commando Sabre, pioneering the use of tactical jets as a " FastFAC" (known as

forward air control Forward air control is the provision of guidance to close air support (CAS) aircraft intended to ensure that their attack hits the intended target and does not injure friendly troops. This task is carried out by a forward air controller (FAC). ...

) for the FAC Airborne mission, which searched for and marked targets with white phosphorus rockets ahead of the strike package. He flew 325 missions but had to eject one time, when his "Hun"

North American F-100 Super Sabre The North American F-100 Super Sabre is an American supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard (ANG) until 1979. The first of the Century Series of ...

aircraft was hit.

Post war

His next assignment was as an F-100 pilot with the 492nd Tactical Fighter Squadron and as a Flight Test Maintenance Officer with the

48th Tactical Fighter Wing The 48th Fighter Wing (48 FW) is part of the United States Air Force's Third Air Force, assigned to Headquarters Air Command Europe and United States Air Forces in Europe ( USAFE). It is based at RAF Lakenheath, England. The 48 FW is the only F ...

RAF Lakenheath, England Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England, UK, north-east of Mildenhall and west of Thetford. The base also sits close to Brandon. Despite being an RAF stat ...

, from November 1968 to April 1972. Rutan had to eject a second time in his Air Force career when his aircraft suffered an engine failure over England.Richard G. "Dick" Rutan - Super Sabre Society Biography
/ref> He then served as a Flight Test Maintenance Officer with the 3030th Support Squadron at

Wright-Patterson AFB Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur W ...

, 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 355th may refer to: Aviation * 355th Fighter Squadron, an inactive United States Air Force unit * 355th Fighter Wing, a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command's Twelfth Air Force * 355th Tactical Airlift Squadron, a U.S. Ai ...

at Davis-Monthan AFB from January 1977 until his retirement from the Air Force on June 1, 1978. During his career with the Air Force, Rutan was awarded the

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

, five Distinguished Flying Crosses, 16

Air Medal The Air Medal (AM) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. It was created in 1942 and is awarded for single acts of heroism or meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight. Criteria The Air Medal was establish ...

s, and a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

. He retired from the Air Force in 1978 with the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colon ...

Post military career

Rutan also acted as a

throughout his career, flying multiple designs such as the Fairchild T-46 in 1981 and the

XCOR EZ-Rocket The XCOR EZ-Rocket was a test platform for the XCOR XR-4A3 rocket propulsion system. The airplane was a modified Rutan Long-EZ, with the propeller replaced by first one, then later a pair of pressure-fed regeneratively cooled liquid-fueled rock ...

in 2001. From December 14 to December 23, 1986, Rutan flew with Jeana Yeager on the first unrefueled non-stop flight around the world in the

Rutan Voyager The Rutan Model 76 Voyager was the first aircraft to fly around the world without stopping or refueling. It was piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager. The flight took off from Edwards Air Force Base's 15,000 foot (4,600 m) runway in the Moja ...

, 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 Royal Aero Club (RAeC) is the national co-ordinating body for air sport in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1901 as the Aero Club of Great Britain, being granted the title of the "Royal Aero Club" in 1910. History The Aero Club was foun ...

, the

Presidential Citizens Medal The Presidential Citizens Medal is an award bestowed by the President of the United States. It is the second-highest civilian award in the United States and is second only to the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Established by executive order on N ...

from President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

, and the

Collier Trophy The Robert J. Collier Trophy is an annual aviation award administered by the U.S. National Aeronautic Association (NAA), presented to those who have made "the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics in America, with respect to ...

for their achievement. In 1997, Dick Rutan and Mike Melvill flew two personally-built Rutan Long-EZ

kit aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

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 EZ-Rocket, Rutan set the point-to-point distance record for a ground-launched, rocket-powered aircraft, flying 16 km from

Mojave, California Mojave (formerly Mohave) is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California, United States. Mojave is located east of Bakersfield, and north of Los Angeles, at an elevation of . The town is located in the western region of the Mojav ...

, to California City, California, in just under ten minutes. This was also the first official delivery of

U.S. Mail The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

by a rocket-powered aircraft. In recognition of this achievement, the FAI awarded Rutan the 2005 Louis Blériot Medal.

Congressional campaign

In 1992 Rutan ran as a conservative Republican against Democratic congressman George Brown, Jr. in California's 42nd congressional district, consisting mostly of the San Bernardino region of southern California and viewed as a swing district. In the Republican primary, Rutan upset

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 2,181, ...

Supervisor Rob Hammock, who had run a strong race against Brown in 1990. In the general election, Rutan ran on a platform that called for reforming Congress and lowering taxes. Brown, first elected in 1962, was long known for surviving close elections and prevailed with 79,780 votes (50.7%) to Rutan's 69,251 (44%). Fritz Ward, a

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

, received 8,424 votes or 5.3% of the vote.

Records

Besides the records Rutan set while flying the

(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 The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...

strategic bomber A strategic bomber is a medium- to long-range Penetrator (aircraft), penetration bomber aircraft designed to drop large amounts of air-to-ground weaponry onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating the enemy's capacity to wage war. Unl ...

in 1962),FAI Record ID #8389 - Distance
" ''

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The (; FAI; en, World Air Sports Federation) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintain ...

(FAI).'' Retrieved: 14 September 2014.FAI Record ID #10908 - Speed around the world, non-stop and non-refuelled
" ''

(FAI).'' Retrieved: 14 September 2014.FAI Record ID #13910 - Distance
" ''

(FAI).'' Retrieved: 14 September 2014. he has 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 Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat. The city had a population of 66,816 in 2020, making it the ninth-largest city in Wisconsin. It is also adjacent to the Town of Oshkosh. History Oshkosh was ...

circa July–August, 1975FAI Record ID #1898 - Distance over a closed course
" ''

(FAI).'' Retrieved: 14 September 2014. *FAI class C1b distance over a closed course of 7,725.3 km at

on December 15, 1979FAI database
/ref> *FAI class C1b distance of 7,344.56 km from

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring ...

Grand Turk Island Grand Turk Island is an island in the Turks and Caicos Islands. It is the largest island in the Turks Islands (the smaller of the two archipelagos that make up the island territory) with . Grand Turk contains the territory's capital, Cockburn T ...

on June 5, 1981FAI Record ID #1899 - Distance, Anchorage - Grand Turk
" ''

(FAI).'' Retrieved: 14 September 2014. Rutan believed that by engaging in a program of breaking class records he could further fine-tune his brother's

homebuilt aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

designs.

Awards and honors

Military decorations and medals

Civilian awards

*1981 - Louis Bleriot Medal - distance record *1986 -

(with the rest of the

team: Jeana Yeager and

) *1986 -

(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) *1988 - Edward Longstreth Medal of the

Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memori ...

*2002 -

National Aviation Hall of Fame The National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) is a museum, annual awards ceremony and learning and research center that was founded in 1962 as an Ohio non-profit corporation in Dayton, Ohio, United States, known as the "Birthplace of Aviation" with it ...

inductee at the

National Museum of the United States Air Force The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is the ...

*2005 - Louis Bleriot Medal - longest point-to-point rocket plane flight (

)FAI records database
/ref> *2011 -

International Air & Space Hall of Fame The International Air & Space Hall of Fame is an honor roll of people, groups, organizations, or things that have contributed significantly to the advancement of aerospace flight and technology, sponsored by the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Si ...

inductee at the

San Diego Air & Space Museum San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM, formerly the San Diego Aerospace Museum) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California, United States. The museum is located in Balboa Park and is housed in the former Ford Building, ...

*2013 - ''Flying'' magazine ranked him (along with Yeager) No. 33 on their list of the 51 Heroes of Aviation *2022 - Mojave Air & Space Port is renamed "Rutan Field" in honor of the Rutan brothers' contributions

References

External links

*
''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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutan, Dick 1938 births Living people United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War American aviation record holders Amateur radio people Aviators from California American test pilots California Republicans Collier Trophy recipients Flight distance record holders Military personnel from California National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees People from Loma Linda, California Presidential Citizens Medal recipients Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Silver Star Reedley College alumni United States Air Force officers Shot-down aviators American Vietnam War pilots