Mack Rutherford Achieved The Guinness World Record For Being The Youngest Pilot To Fly Solo
Update: 2022-08-25 12:10 IST
Mack Rutherford Achieved The Guinness World Record For Being The Youngest Pilot To Fly Solo
Expert pilot Mack Rutherford from UK achieved the Guinness World recordfor completing the solo round of the world at the age of 17 years and 64 days. In Sofia, Bulgaria, Mack, also known as Mack Solo, touched down on a balmy summer afternoon.
Six months earlier, on 23 March 2022, the young aviator had left the same city to pursue his goal of setting the world record. Mack took on the challenge all by himself, much like his sister Zara Rutherford, who earlier this year also smashed two flying records.
On August 24, 2022, Mack made his way back to Sofia after travelling through 52 nations and five continents. Mack, who was only 16 years old and was born in June 2005 to Belgian and British parents, set out on his world record-breaking trip.
He flew to celebrate his 17th birthday in the same aircraft that would later bring him two Guinness World Records including the youngest person to circumnavigate the world by aircraft solo (male) and youngest person to circumnavigate the world by microlight solo (male).
As his aircraft was small and he could only fly during the day, he occasionally had to land when the weather became dangerous. The 17-year-old travelled for a total of six months, adjusting to last-minute route changes and a number of difficulties. Whenever he landed, he also had the opportunity to meet a number of people from all over the world.
Along the ambitious trek, he never stopped grinning, making jokes, and keeping his admirers informed. He had anticipated that Mack's journey would be anything but easy. Like previous pilots before him, Mack was required to show that he can handle challenging situations like bad weather and unforeseen landings.
The most difficult part of his flight, the island of Casco Cove in the Aleutian archipelago, is where problems began. Weather-related issues made this part of the trip even more challenging. After around ten hours of non-stop flight over open water, Mack had to contend with high winds and rain. The novice pilot was expecting the predicted tailwinds, but unexpectedly strong headwinds delayed his flight and made him land at Attu.
Meanwhile, the previous record holder, who was a year older than Mack, was 18 years and 150 days old when he finished travelling 24,900 miles around the globe.