A 17-year-old boy has become the youngest pilot to fly solo around the world. Mack Rutherford completed his world journey on Wednesday after starting it from Bulgaria five months back.
The Belgian-British dual national landed on an airstrip in Sofia, West Bulgaria on Wednesday and claimed two Guinness World Records.
Youngest Person To Fly Around The World Solo
The first one is that he has become the youngest person to fly around the world solo. The previous record holder was Travis Ludlow. While the second record is that Rutherford is also the youngest person to fly around the world solo in an Ultra Light aircraft. Previous record holder: Flyzolo (Zara Rutherford).
Rutherford claimed that he was trying to show the world that young people can make difference. After stepping out of his small plane, he stated that "Just follow your dreams, no matter how old you are – work hard and move forward to achieve your goals."
Rutherford Crossed The Equator Twice
His sister, Zara, who finished her own global flight in January at age 19, previously held the ultralight record. Mack Rutherford took the age record from Travis Ludlow of Britain, who was 18 when he made a solo flight around the world last year, according to CBS News.
During the record-making journey that began on March 23, Rutherford covered five continents as he visited over 50 countries.
Rutherford has also crossed the equator twice to set a mark recognized by the Guinness World Records.
In the journey of 142 days, he covered the distance of 54124 km and spent nearly 221 hours in the air. His longest flight was from Japan to the USA which took around 10 hours.
Rutherford flew in Shark Aero aircraft, one of the fastest ultralight aircraft in the world (up to 300 km/h), designed in the Czech Republic and manufactured in Slovakia.
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