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Longest flight without refuelling

Record

9 d 0 h 03 min 44 s

Holder
Dick Rutan, Rutan Voyager

✓ Value cross-checked in a second source

Longest flight without refuelling
Photo: NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center / NASA/Thomas Harrop · Public domain

How the record evolved

Chart of the Longest flight without refuelling record, from 1909 to today 1909 today 4 h 17 min 35 s 9 d 0 h 03 min 44 s

The last record set in each decade, up to the current record (highlighted).

YearRecordHolder
current9 d 0 h 03 min 44 sDick Rutan, Rutan Voyager
3 d 12 h 32 minWalter Edwin Lees, Bellanca J-2
2 d 17 h 25 minJohann Risztics, Junkers W 33
1 d 0 h 12 minReinhold Böhm, Albatros biplane
4 h 17 min 35 sHenri Farman, H. Farman

Put them in order

Sort these records from the oldest to the most recent.

  1. 1 d 0 h 12 minReinhold Böhm, Albatros biplane
  2. 4 h 17 min 35 sHenri Farman, H. Farman
  3. 9 d 0 h 03 min 44 sDick Rutan, Rutan Voyager
  4. 3 d 12 h 32 minWalter Edwin Lees, Bellanca J-2

What to remember

Taking off from Edwards Air Force Base in the United States on 14 December 1986, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager landed on 23 December after 9 d 0 h 03 min 44 s aloft. Their Rutan Voyager had just made the first non-stop, non-refuelled flight around the world, in an aircraft designed by Burt Rutan, the pilot's younger brother.

The flight endurance record measures the time spent in the air without landing. Several pilots may take turns, as long as all of them stay on board. At first the limit was the amount of fuel an aircraft could carry; mid-air refuelling changed that, hence this category that excludes it.

The history begins in 1909 with Henri Farman and 4 h 17 min 35 s. Reinhold Böhm passed a full day in 1914 in an Albatros biplane, Johann Risztics stayed up 2 d 17 h 25 min in 1928 in a Junkers W 33, and Walter Edwin Lees 3 d 12 h 32 min in 1931 in a Bellanca J-2. From Farman to the Voyager, the duration grew by a ratio of 50.33. For safety reasons, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale no longer recognises new duration records for crewed airplanes or gliders.

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Sources and licences

  • Value, holder and date: Wikipedia article “List of flight endurance records” (revision used 1379000555). Data from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
  • Photo: NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center / NASA/Thomas Harrop, Photo licensed under Public domain (Wikimedia Commons).

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