Dick Rutan (born 1938) achieved one of the last aviation "firsts." A seasoned aviator trained in the United States Air Force, Rutan and co-pilot Jeana Yeager were the first flyers to pilot an airplane around the world non-stop without refueling. The flight set a world record for closed-circuit, non-stop, non-refueled, around-the-world flight.

Rutan and Yeager flew the Voyager aircraft from Edwards Air Force Base in southern California on the morning of December 14, 1986. They landed the aircraft nine days later at Edwards Air Force Base, joining the ranks of such aviators as Charles Lindbergh, who flew the first solo flight across the Atlantic, and Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

Richard Glenn Rutan was born in Loma Linda, California, July 1, 1938. He was the first of three children in the family of George and Irene Rutan. His father was a dentist. Besides his brother, Burt, he...