Jeana Yeager, born in Fort Worth, Texas, co-piloted the Rutan Voyager during a non-stop flight around the globe in 1986. The Voyager was one of the first aircraft to be constructed primarily of lightweight graphite-honeycomb composite materials. It took five years of meticulous planning by fellow pilot Dick Rutan and his brother, aircraft designer Burt Rutan, before Yeager and Rutan could begin their odyssey. The record-setting flight took 9 days, 3 minutes, and 44 seconds with no stops for refueling. The pair established six new world records and earned the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Ronald Reagan in 1986. The Voyager now hangs in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
