Teen Zara Rutherford Is Youngest Woman to Fly Round the World

Zara Rutherford all the time dreamed of flying solo all over the world, however she by no means thought it could truly occur. It was “expensive, dangerous, complicated, a logistical nightmare,” Rutherford told herself. However, as she was ending college, she determined to do one thing loopy: attempt to make her dream come true. She succeeded.

Rutherford, a 19-year-old Belgian-British teen, turned the youngest lady to finish a solo flight all over the world on Thursday. She accomplished the journey in Shark ultralight plane, a airplane that may attain speeds of as much as 186 miles per hour (300 kilometers per hour). In her five-month journey, she flew over 52 countries and five continents, logging roughly 32,000 miles (51,000 kilometers).

Rutherford was greeted by cheers and applause when she landed on the tarmac on the Kortrijk-Wevelgem airport in Belgium.

“It’s just really crazy. I haven’t quite processed it,” she mentioned on Thursday, as reported by Reuters.

Rutherford broke the earlier report held by the Afghan-American Shaesta Waiz, the primary licensed feminine pilot from Afghanistan who made the journey when she was 30 years previous in 2017. The Belgian-British teen is just one yr older than Mason Andrews, the youngest male report holder for a solo flight. Andrews, additionally an American, accomplished his flight when he was 18 years previous in 2018.

Waiz congratulated Rutherford on her flight on Instagram and shared a photograph of them collectively.

“Bravo!!! I can’t wait to connect with you soon to share my joy and excitement with you,” Waiz mentioned. “I also cannot wait to hear your stories and strength along your journey. You have inspired so many people, especially me!”

Over the course of her months-long journey, Rutherford skilled issues most of us solely see on TV or learn in books. As advised by the Guardian, she flew via freezing temperatures in Greenland, Alaska, and Russia; desert haze in Saudi Arabia; thunderstorms on the equator; and smog in India, to call a number of.

During some moments, Rutherford felt like her life might be hazard. One of the scariest experiences of her journey, she mentioned, was when she was flying to South Korea in dangerous climate whereas making an attempt to remain out of Chinese and North Korea airspace.

“They have been testing missiles with no warning,” Rutherford said of North Korea. “”If they see a small blip or plane on their display that’s fairly low heading in the direction of their nation, it’s very attainable that they might ship somebody out to take a look.”

She was not focused on that and thankfully managed to keep away from any bother.

Now that she’s again in Belgium, Rutherford is planning on learning electrical engineering as soon as she begins college. She hopes that her flight will encourage extra ladies to review science and engineering and provides them a job mannequin that appears like them.

“Boys learn through toys, street names, history classes and movies that they can be scientists, astronauts, CEO’s or presidents,” Rutherford wrote on her website. “Girls are often encouraged to be beautiful, kind, helpful and sweet. With my flight I want to show young women that they can be bold, ambitious and make their dreams come true.”

She nonetheless has yet one more massive dream left on her record: turning into an astronaut. With that willpower, I’m betting she makes it occur.