Pilot Dick Rutan, who was the first to fly around the world without refueling, says that the current solar-powered aircraft making an attempt to go around the world without a drop of fuel is a "game-changer."
"It's pretty amazing. If you think back, it was 90 years since the first round the world flight, and then, of course, it's almost 30 years since I did it with gasoline or aviation fuel," Rutan told J.D. Hayworth and Miranda Khan on "America's Forum" on
Newsmax TV Tuesday.
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Rutan piloted the Voyager around the world in 1986, which took him nine days non-stop.
Rutan was awarded the Presidential Citizen's Medal of Honor by President Ronald Reagan following the flight for the accomplishment.
The first solar-powered airplane, the Solar Impulse 2, attempting to fly around the world without using fuel completed its first leg on Monday.
"To be able to collect the energy from the sun, the sun has been beating up on us for millennia. Now it's our turn to use some of that, to do something useful, and I'm really excited about that," Rutan told Newsmax.
"When they can probably do this . . . with a battery or electricity that we can with fossil fuels now, it's going to be a game-changer," he explained.
"It's going to change everything. It's going to have a major impact on everybody's life," he said.
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