19-year-old sets record for the youngest woman to fly solo around the world

A 19-year-old has set the record for the youngest woman to fly solo around the world next month. Zara Rutherford, Belgian-British sets off on her 51,000 kilometers (32,000 miles) journey in her bespoke Shark ultralight plane, the world’s fastest microlight, on August 11.

Once the trip completes, Rutherford will be the youngest person to fly a microlight around the world and the youngest woman to fly solo around the world.

Currently, the world record for the latter is held by Shaesta Waiz who completed the journey aged 30.

Rutherford hopes that she will pave the way for girls and women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and inspire others to follow in her footsteps.

Reuters quoted her saying, “I wanted to fly around the world, have the girls see me and think, I’d love to fly one day too,”

“There is a difference in aviation between men and women. So my goal is to bring the records closer and then hopefully inspire other girls to try and beat my record and then go and start competing with the boys.”

Her parents, Beatrice de Smet and Sam Rutherford are both pilots themselves.

She said, “When she first told me about it, my heart skipped a beat. It took me a bit of time to digest. And now I’m so proud and fully, fully behind her,”

She will be funding the trip herself, with the help of sponsors, and she hopes to complete the journey in around two to three months.