Making memories of outstanding aviator Amelia Earhart come to life again, 19-year-old Zara Rutherford has become the youngest woman to fly solo across the world. In India, in 2019, Mumbai girl Aarohi Pandit held the distinction of being the first woman pilot to cross both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean solo in a Light Sports Aircraft.
Rutherford’s achievement is inspiring, because, in her own words, “Boys learn through toys, street names, history classes and movies that they can be scientists, astronauts, CEOs or presidents. 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.”
Bold and ambitious indeed.
Rutherford took off on the 18th of August 2021 on a journey to fly solo around the world in a Shark ultralight aircraft. “On the 20th of January 2022, 155 days later, I landed back in Wevelgem, Belgium,” she says. “With this successful circumnavigation, I am happy not only to break the Guinness World Record of youngest woman flying solo around the world, but also to reduce the gender gap by 11 years between the current youngest male record holder Travis Ludlow, 18 at the time of his record, and the previous female record holder Shaesta Waez, who was 30 when she completed her ‘Dreams Soar’ around-the-world flight.”
According to her, “Not only am I hoping to reduce the gender gap in Aviation and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), but also to encourage girls and young women to pursue their dreams.”
On 18th of August, Rutherford set off from Belgium, heading west. Her route included the UK, Iceland, Greenland, Canada, USA, Latin America to Colombia, then back north via Alaska, to Russia, Korea, Indonesia, India, the Middle East, Europe and back to Belgium.
She flew around the world in a Shark Aero, a high-performance two seat tandem ultralight aircraft with retractable gear, a smaller wing, a variable-pitch propeller and first class comfortable cockpit interior. “It is a high-performance ultralight aircraft manufactured in Europe. It is incredibly fast with cruising speed reaching 300 km/h. The aircraft has been specially prepared for such a long journey,” says Rutherford.
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