On Thursday January 20th, the Belgian-British pilot Zara Rutherford broke the world record as the youngest woman to fly solo around the world, landing her light aircraft in western Belgium 155 days after takeoff.
Rutherford will go down in the Guinness Book of World Records after beating the mark set by aviator Shaesta Waiz in 2017 at the age of 30. The overall record will remain out of Rutherford’s reach, as Britain’s Travis Ludlow lowered the mark last year by achieving it at the age of 18.
She is the youngest woman to complete the challenge, the first woman to circumnavigate the world in a microlight, and the first Belgian to circumnavigate the world solo by air.
I’ve been keeping busy, I’ve been applying to universities and keeping the plane ready to go.
Zara Rutherford
On her return to Belgium, the BBC reports, the former pupil of St Swithun’s School, Winchester, was greeted by her family, journalists and well-wishers. She was accompanied in her landing by four planes from the Belgian Red Devils aerobatic team.
Rutherford’s flight in her ultralight Shark aircraft was supposed to take three months, but bad weather and visa problems kept her grounded, sometimes for weeks, stretching her adventure by nearly two months.
“Winter in Europe poses many challenges,” she said, after the weather prevented her from flying for several days on the last leg of the trip. During his journey she suffered temperatures of -35 degrees Celsius (-31 degrees Fahrenheit) in Siberia and 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) in Indonesia. Fog, smoke from forest fires and even typhoons also caused delays.
I’m looking forward to telling people about my experiences and encouraging people to something crazy with your life. If you have the opportunity – go for it.
Zara Rutherford
On her journey of more than 52,000 kilometers (28,000 nautical miles), she made stops on five continents and visited 41 countries. She had to avoid wildfires in California, deal with cold weather in Russia and narrowly avoid North Korean airspace. She flew by Visual Flight Rules, basically guided by sight, which often cost her time when more sophisticated systems would have allowed him to cut through clouds and fog.
At times she feared for her life; at times she simply longed for the comforts of home. Flying runs in her family, as both her parents are pilots and she has been flying small planes since the age of six. At 14, she started flying.
With her final landing, Rutherford wanted to pass on the spirit of aviation to girls and young women around the world, as well as the enthusiasm for studies such as exact sciences, mathematics, engineering and technology.
