It was called the last great goal in flying. It would be a flight around the world without stopping or adding more fuel. Today, Frank Oliver and Doug Johnson tell about a special plane called Voyager and the effort to set a difficult world record.
這被稱為是飛行事業(yè)的最后一個(gè)偉大目標(biāo)——一架飛機(jī)環(huán)繞地球飛行，沒(méi)有中途停歇和補(bǔ)充燃料！今天，F(xiàn)rank Oliver和Doug Johnson講述了一架特制的飛機(jī)——“航行者”（Voyager）號(hào)成就這一困難的世界紀(jì)錄的故事。
FRANK OLIVER: Voyager began as a quick drawing on a small piece of paper. Six years later, the drawing was a plane that made history.
“航行者”號(hào)從畫在一小片紙上的一張草圖開(kāi)始。六年之后，草圖成為了那架創(chuàng)造歷史的飛機(jī)。
Many people gave their time, energy and money to help make the flight happen. But three people had lead parts in the event. Dick Rutan. Burt Rutan. And Jeana Yeager.
許多人奉獻(xiàn)了他們的時(shí)間、精力和金錢來(lái)幫助實(shí)現(xiàn)這一飛行計(jì)劃。但是，其中有三個(gè)人在這一活動(dòng)中發(fā)揮了領(lǐng)導(dǎo)作用——Dick Rutan、Burt Rutan以及Jeana Yeager。
Dick Rutan was an experienced flier. He had been a pilot in the United States military during the war in Vietnam. After the war, he worked as a test pilot. He flew planes designed by his younger brother Burt.
Dick Rutan是一名經(jīng)驗(yàn)豐富的飛行員。他曾在越南戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)期間作為飛行員在美國(guó)空軍服役。越戰(zhàn)之后，他成為了一名試飛員——他試飛的是他的弟弟Burt設(shè)計(jì)的飛機(jī)。
Burt Rutan was well-known as a designer of experimental planes. And Jeana Yeager held nine world flight records as a pilot.
Burt Rutan是一位著名的實(shí)驗(yàn)型飛機(jī)設(shè)計(jì)師。而Jeana Yeager作為飛行員，擁有9項(xiàng)世界飛行記錄。
DOUG JOHNSON: One day in early nineteen eighty-one, Dick, Burt and Jeana were eating in a restaurant in Mojave, California. Burt turned to his brother and asked a wild question: "How would you like to be the first person to fly around the world without stopping to re-fuel?"
1981年的一天，Dick，Burt和Jeana在加利福尼亞莫哈韋的一家飯店吃飯。Burt轉(zhuǎn)向他的哥哥，問(wèn)了一個(gè)瘋狂的問(wèn)題：“你想不想成為世界上第一個(gè)駕駛飛機(jī)不著陸加油而環(huán)繞世界的人？”
The three considered the idea. A non-stop flight around the world without re-fueling was the last flight record to be set. The flight always had been considered impossible. No plane could carry enough fuel to fly that far: forty thousand kilometers.
這三個(gè)家伙開(kāi)始考慮這個(gè)問(wèn)題。不著陸加油地環(huán)繞世界飛行被稱為是終極的飛機(jī)記錄，這一直以來(lái)被認(rèn)為是不可能的。沒(méi)有飛機(jī)能夠裝載足夠的燃料來(lái)飛行這么遠(yuǎn)——足足4萬(wàn)公里！
But now there were new materials for planes. Burt thought he could build a plane that could make the voyage. Dick and Jeana thought they could fly it. No one could think of a good reason not to try.
不過(guò)，現(xiàn)在有了新的飛機(jī)材料。Burt認(rèn)為他可以制造一架能夠完成任務(wù)的飛機(jī)。Dick和Jeana認(rèn)為他們可以駕駛它。沒(méi)有人可以給出一個(gè)不去嘗試一下的理由。
Burt picked up a small piece of paper. He drew an airplane that looked like a giant wing, and not much more. That was the beginning.
Burt隨手撿起一小片紙，畫了一架像一個(gè)巨大的翅膀的飛機(jī)，除此以外就沒(méi)什么了。這就是一切的開(kāi)始。
FRANK OLIVER: Not since the days of Orville and Wilbur Wright had the people making a record flight designed and built their own aircraft. Dick, Burt and Jeana did. Some people thought their Voyager project was both impossible and foolish. Everyone knew it would be dangerous.
自從萊特兄弟之后，還沒(méi)有人能夠用他們自己設(shè)計(jì)制造的飛行器創(chuàng)造一項(xiàng)飛行記錄。Dick，Burt和Jeana做到了。有些人認(rèn)為他們的“航行者”計(jì)劃既不可能也很愚蠢。每個(gè)人都知道，它非常危險(xiǎn)。
The Voyager crew worked on the plane in a small building at an airport in California's Mojave Desert. Dick, Burt and Jeana received no government money. Instead, they got small amounts of money from lots of different people.
“航行者”計(jì)劃的成員們，在加州莫哈韋沙漠中一個(gè)飛機(jī)場(chǎng)的一所小房子里打造著他們的飛機(jī)。Dick，Burt和Jeana沒(méi)有受到政府的資助，不過(guò)他們卻從許多不同的人那里得到了小額的捐款。
As news of the project spread, more and more people offered to help. There were aviation engineers and workers from the space agency's experimental plane project. Several airplane companies offered equipment to be used in the plane. When Voyager was finished, it had two million dollars' worth of parts in it.
隨著這一計(jì)劃的新聞報(bào)道的傳播，越來(lái)越多的人提供了幫助。有航空工程師和宇航局實(shí)驗(yàn)型飛機(jī)計(jì)劃的工人。幾家航空公司提供了飛機(jī)上需要使用的設(shè)備。當(dāng)“航行者”號(hào)完工的時(shí)候，它身上的零件共價(jià)值二百萬(wàn)美元。
DOUG JOHNSON: Burt Rutan had built light-weight planes before. He knew a normal plane made of aluminum metal could not make a trip around the world without adding fuel. So his solution was to build Voyager almost completely out of new materials. The materials were very light, but very strong. This meant Voyager could lift and carry many times its weight in fuel.
Burt Rutan之前曾制造過(guò)輕飛行器。他知道一架普通的鋁制飛機(jī)無(wú)法不加油環(huán)繞世界。所以他的解決方案是幾乎完全用新型材料來(lái)打造“航行者”號(hào)。這些材料非常輕，但是卻非常堅(jiān)韌。這意味著“航行者”號(hào)可以攜帶著它本身重量許多倍的燃料升空。
The finished plane weighed just nine hundred kilograms, about the weight of a small car. The full load of fuel weighed three times that much, about three thousand kilograms. Voyager was not built to be a fast plane. It flew about one hundred seventy-five kilometers an hour.
完工的飛機(jī)僅重900千克，僅僅相當(dāng)于一輛小汽車的重量。而滿載的話，燃料將是這的三倍重，大約3000千克。“航行者”并不是被設(shè)計(jì)成一架飛得很快的飛機(jī)。它的航速大約是175公里/小時(shí)。
FRANK OLIVER: The main wing of the finished plane was more than thirty-three meters across. That is wider than the main wing on today's big passenger planes. The center part of the plane held the crew. And on either side of this body were two long fuel tanks.
完工的飛機(jī)主機(jī)翼翼展超過(guò)73米，這超過(guò)了今天的大型客機(jī)。乘員們位于飛機(jī)的中心部分，在機(jī)體兩側(cè)各有一個(gè)長(zhǎng)條狀的燃料箱。
In fact, almost all of the Voyager was a fuel tank. Seventeen separate containers were squeezed into every possible space. During the flight, the pilots had to move fuel from container to container to keep the plane balanced. One engine at each end of the body of the plane provided power.
事實(shí)上，“航行者”號(hào)上幾乎所有的部分都是燃料箱。17個(gè)分離的燃料容器被塞入每個(gè)可能的地方。在飛行過(guò)程中，飛行員們不得不經(jīng)常將燃料從一個(gè)容器移到另一個(gè)，以保證飛機(jī)的平衡。在機(jī)體的兩頭，各有一個(gè)引擎，提供飛機(jī)的動(dòng)力。
The area for the two pilots was unbelievably small. It was just one meter wide by two-and-one-quarter meters long. The person flying the plane sat in the pilot's seat. The other person had to lie down at all times.
兩名飛行員的活動(dòng)區(qū)域令人難以置信的小，大約只有1米寬，2.25米長(zhǎng)。駕駛飛機(jī)的人坐在飛行員座位上，而另一個(gè)人不得不在飛行全程中一直躺下。
DOUG JOHNSON: After many test flights, the Voyager was finally ready in December, nineteen eighty-six. The best weather for flying around the world is from June to August. That time was far past. But the pilots were tired of delays. They made the decision to Take off, knowing the weather might be bad.
在許多次的測(cè)試飛行之后，“航行者”號(hào)終于在1986年12月整裝待發(fā)了。環(huán)繞地球飛行的最佳時(shí)節(jié)是六月到八月，而這段時(shí)間早已過(guò)去了。不過(guò)飛行員們?cè)缫褏捑肓搜悠?。盡管知道天氣可能會(huì)很壞，他們?nèi)匀蛔龀隽顺霭l(fā)的決定。
飛行中的“航行者”
On December fourteenth, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager walked around the plane one more time. It looked like a giant white flying insect. They were going to be trusting their lives to this strange plane for the next nine days.
12月14日，Dick Rutan和Jeana Yeager繞著飛機(jī)又走了一圈。它像是一只巨大的白色飛蟲。之后9天，他們將把他們的生命寄托于這架奇怪的飛機(jī)上。
Dick climbed into the only seat. Jeana lay on the floor. They were ready to go. Flight controllers at Edwards Air Force Base in California cleared them for a trip no one had ever attempted before.
Dick爬到了那唯一的座位上，Jeana躺在地板上。他們準(zhǔn)備好出發(fā)了。愛(ài)德華茲空軍基地的飛行管理員知道他們將踏上一段之前無(wú)人嘗試過(guò)的旅程。
FRANK OLIVER: The long, thin wings of the plane were so loaded with fuel that they almost touched the ground. Voyager began to move down the runway, slowly. But something was wrong. The ends of the wings were not lifting.
那長(zhǎng)而細(xì)的機(jī)翼由于載了太多的燃料，幾乎接觸到地面了。“航行者”號(hào)慢慢的沿跑道加速。但是，發(fā)生了一些狀況——機(jī)翼的后部并沒(méi)有抬升。
Burt Rutan sent a radio message to his brother to lift the plane's nose. "Pull back on the stick!" he screamed. "Pull back!" But Dick did not hear the warning. And he did not see the wings. He was looking straight ahead.
Burt Rutan發(fā)送了一個(gè)無(wú)線電信號(hào)，提醒他的哥哥，應(yīng)該抬升機(jī)鼻。“往后拉操作桿！”他喊道，“往后拉！”但是Dick并沒(méi)有聽(tīng)到他的警告，也沒(méi)有看到機(jī)翼的情況——他正直視前方！
Voyager was getting dangerously close to the end of the runway. It appeared about to crash. Finally, just in time, the long wings swept up. The plane leaped into the air.
隨著“航行者”號(hào)接近跑到盡頭，它的處境也越來(lái)越危險(xiǎn)。它似乎就要墜毀了。最后，剛剛好，機(jī)翼掃過(guò)地面，飛機(jī)終于沖上了天空！
Planes following Voyager could see that the ends of the wings were badly damaged. Dick turned the plane so the force of air currents would break off the broken ends. Then he aimed Voyager out over the Pacific Ocean.
跟在“航行者”號(hào)后面的飛機(jī)可以看到它的機(jī)翼的后部嚴(yán)重受損。Dick將飛機(jī)轉(zhuǎn)向，以便于氣流的力量可以將后部壞掉的部分刮掉。之后，他將“航行者”號(hào)駛向太平洋。
DOUG JOHNSON: Weight was the main consideration in designing the experimental plane. Not safety. Not comfort. Voyager did not have most of the normal safety equipment of modern planes. There were no special materials to block the noise of the engines. And space for the pilots was so tight they had great difficulty changing places.
重量是設(shè)計(jì)這架實(shí)驗(yàn)型飛機(jī)時(shí)候首要的考量，不是安全性，也不是舒適性。“航行者”號(hào)沒(méi)有通?，F(xiàn)代飛機(jī)上有的絕大多數(shù)安全設(shè)備。沒(méi)有特別的材料來(lái)阻隔引擎的噪聲。同時(shí)，給飛行員的空間是如此之小，以至于他們?cè)诮粨Q位置的時(shí)候會(huì)遇到巨大的困難。
Voyager's long wings moved up and down as the winds changed. It seemed to sail on waves of air, just like a sailboat on ocean waves. This motion meant the flight was extremely rough.
“航行者”號(hào)長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的機(jī)翼隨著風(fēng)力的變化上下移動(dòng)。它似乎在氣浪上揚(yáng)帆航行，就像海浪上的一艘帆船。這種運(yùn)動(dòng)意味著這趟飛行是極端困難的。
FRANK OLIVER: It was not an enjoyable trip. Dick and Jeana were always tense. At the end of the second day, the weather expert for the flight warned of trouble. Voyager was heading for an ocean storm. Dick was able to fly close to the storm and ride its winds.
這并非是一趟令人愉悅的旅途。Dick和Jeana總是很緊張。在第二天的最后，氣象專家警告說(shuō)，他們可能會(huì)遇到麻煩。“航行者”號(hào)正駛向一個(gè)大洋風(fēng)暴。還好Dick能夠飛近風(fēng)暴，卻輕輕的擦過(guò)它的邊沿。
On the third day, Voyager was in trouble again. It had to fly between huge thunderhead clouds on one side and Vietnam's airspace on the other. Dick was able to keep the plane safely in the middle.
第三天，“航行者”又遇到了麻煩。它不得不飛越雷雨云和越南領(lǐng)空之間的狹小地帶。Dick成功的做到了。
Over Africa, the two pilots struggled with continuous stormy weather. Dick had flown almost all of the first sixty hours of the flight. Then he changed places with Jeana for short periods. Both were extremely tired.
在非洲，兩位飛行員與持續(xù)不斷的風(fēng)暴天氣抗?fàn)?。Dick已經(jīng)飛了幾乎整整剛開(kāi)始的60個(gè)小時(shí)。這之后，他和Jeana交換了位置，休息一小段時(shí)間。他們都極度疲憊。
Suddenly, a red warning light turned on. It was a signal that there was not enough oil in one engine. Dick and Jeana had been so busy trying to fly around bad weather and mountains that they had forgotten to watch the oil level. But luck stayed with them.
突然，一個(gè)紅色警告燈亮了。這是一個(gè)信號(hào)，告訴他們一個(gè)引擎里已經(jīng)沒(méi)有足夠的燃油了。Dick和Jeana已經(jīng)在和壞天氣和群山的搏斗中手忙腳亂，以至于他們居然忘記了去看油料平衡表。幸好運(yùn)氣和他們同在。
They added the necessary oil. The engine was not damaged.
他們加入了必需的燃油。引擎并未損壞。
DOUG JOHNSON: Once past the violent weather over Africa, Dick and Jeana began planning the way home. A computer confirmed that they had enough fuel left to make it. But as they flew up the coast of Mexico, the engine on the back of the plane failed. Fuel had stopped flowing to it.
一次，飛機(jī)通過(guò)了非洲上空的狂暴天氣后，Dick和Jeana開(kāi)始計(jì)劃回去的線路。計(jì)算機(jī)確認(rèn)他們有足夠的剩余燃料。但是，當(dāng)他們飛過(guò)墨西哥海岸的時(shí)候，后部的引擎熄火了，燃料也不再進(jìn)入它。
The more powerful front engine already had been shut down earlier to save fuel. With neither engine working, Voyager quickly began to lose speed and height. The plane fell for five minutes. Dick finally got the front engine started again. Then fuel started flowing to the back engine, and it began to work again, too.
功率更強(qiáng)大的前引擎已經(jīng)在早先被關(guān)閉，以節(jié)省燃料。由于沒(méi)有引擎在工作，“航行者”迅速開(kāi)始失去速度和高度。飛機(jī)下降持續(xù)了5分鐘，Dick最終成功的使前引擎重新啟動(dòng)。隨后燃料又流進(jìn)了后引擎，它也又開(kāi)始工作了。
FRANK OLIVER: Nine days after take-off, Voyager landed smoothly at Edwards Air Force Base in California. It had completed a Forty thousand kilometer flight around the world. It had not stopped. And it had not re-fueled.
出發(fā)9天之后，“航行者”號(hào)平穩(wěn)地降落在加州愛(ài)德華茲空軍基地。它完成了一次40000公里的環(huán)球飛行，并且沒(méi)有降落或加油！
Dick said after landing: "This was the last major event of atmospheric flight." Jeana added: "It was a lot more difficult than we ever imagined."
降落之后，Dick說(shuō)道：“這是航空事業(yè)最后的一個(gè)大事件。”Jeana補(bǔ)充說(shuō)：“它比我們?cè)O(shè)想的困難的多了。”
Burt Rutan's revolutionary plane design had worked. And, with it, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager had joined the list of the world's greatest fliers.
不過(guò)Rutan革命性的飛機(jī)設(shè)計(jì)最終被證明是有效的。并且，憑借著它，Dick Rutan和Jeana Yeager成功躋身于世界上最偉大的飛行員之列。
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