Zara Rutherford, daughter of two pilots, announced that she would be flying around the world solo, in order to become the youngest woman to do so. The current record holder is an American female, Shaesta Waiz, who broke circumnavigation records at the age of 30 in 2017.
Zara, who is a British and Belgian national, set off from her home city Brussels on Wednesday (18 August) for the circumnavigation; her entire trip is going to take approximately 3 months. She will be carrying it out on the world’s fastest light sport aircraft, a Shark ultralight.
Zara Rutherford has been traveling in small planes since the age of 6; at the age of 11, she jumped out of a plane with a parachute on for the first time, and at the age of 14, she began flying planes herself. Until now, she has logged nearly 130 hours of solo flights.
While Zara had wanted to conduct this trip for the pure sake of having an adventure during her gap year before college, after executing some research, she realized she could become the first and youngest Belgian woman to conduct this circumnavigation. She wanted to inspire young girls to aim for all sorts of career paths and professions, even unconventional ones, as long as they were passionate about their choices.
“I’m hoping to get more girls interested in aviation,” said Zara.
Ultimately, Zara Rutherford aims to become an astronaut, which is the plan she wants to pursue upon returning from her inspirational journey.
