 |  | | In July 1986, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager set a closed-course, non-refueled, distance record in Voyager. It was the first time an absolute, unlimited category aviation record had been established since World War II. | |
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As a group of people talked over coffee at the Mojave Inn, in Mojave, Calif., in late 1980, Burt Rutan doodled on a napkin. He was drawing an aircraft he thought could make a nonstop, un-refueled flight around the world—one of the last major milestones to be recognized as a significant event in aviation.
His older brother, Dick Rutan, who had been highly decorated for his F-100 flights in Vietnam, and who worked for the aircraft designer as chief test pilot and production manager at Rutan Aircraft Factory, immediately voiced an interest in building and flying the aircraft. Jeana Yeager, the pilot's girlfriend, jumped at the chance to be his teammate. |
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 | | | In his Pitts S-2, Double Take, Craig Hosking learned to take off, perform a full aerobatic routine, and then land, all while inverted. | |
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When visionary Hollywood directors like Martin Scorsese, Michael Mann or John Woo need to bring complicated, thrilling aerial stunts to the big screen, they turn to the professional: Craig Hosking.
For the past 20 years, Hosking has been one of the most hard-working and sought-after pilots in the film business, racking up a resume that most traditional actors envy. With on-screen, blink-and-you'll-miss-him roles in films from "The Rocketeer" to "Space Cowboys," he's still had a lot more big-budget screen time than your typical thespian.
Despite a predilection for acting—he's in the Screen Actors Guild—where Hosking shines is in designing and shooting complex aerial sequences that involve dozens of aircraft at a time. He's been the second unit director on several aviation-heavy films including "Executive Decision," "Clear and Present Danger" and "Space Cowboys," and more recently designed the aerial stunts in "The Hulk" and filmed aerial sequences for "The Aviator" and "Miami Vice." |
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