December 23

On the 23rd in 1986, pilots Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager landed their airplane, named Voyager, at Edwards Air Force Base in California. There is nothing particularly interesting in that, except for one little thing: they had taken off from Edwards Air Force Base on December 14. In the interim, they had flown around the planet without landing or re-fueling, becoming the first people to fly an aircraft non-stop around the world. A transcript of the cabin voice recorder indicates that a large portion of the flight consisted of Yeager saying to Rutan, “For crying out loud, just pull over and ask for directions. I don’t understand why you won’t ask someone how to get there. What is wrong with you? It’s not a crime to ask for directions, heck, anyone can get lost. It’s not a big deal; just ask for directions. You never want to ask anyone for directions.”