19-year-old set to become the youngest woman to fly solo around the world

19-year-old set to become the youngest woman to fly solo around the world

Rutherford, who comes from a family of pilots, began her formal training at age 14. But she got her flying license only after turning 18.

Belgian-British Zara Rutherford, a 19-year-old student, is set to become the youngest woman to fly solo around the world next month.

Rutherford will set off on a 51,000 km voyage in her bespoke Shark ultralight plane, the world's fastest microlight plane, on August 11 from Brussels, reports Reuters.

Once the 19-year-old completes her journey, she will become the youngest to fly a microlight around the world and the youngest woman to fly solo around the world.

The current record is held by Shaesta Waiz, who completed the around the world trip at age 30 in 2017. The youngest male record holder is 18 years old.

Rutherford, who has British and Belgian nationality and studied at St Swithun’s School in Winchester, believes her journey will take 3 months to complete.

"The greatest challenge will be the remote places like northern Russia or Greenland – there aren’t many people who live there so if anything were to go wrong I would be in a bit of an awkward situation. I’ve got a bit of nerves and excitement, sometimes both," she told PA news agency.

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Rutherford, who comes from a family of pilots, began her formal training at age 14. But she got her flying license only after turning 18.

"My parents are completely on board. My mum took some convincing but she got there. My dad is very supportive and is helping with the logistics," she added.

The 19-year-old hopes her voyage can pave the way for girls and women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and also inspire others to follow in her footsteps.

"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," she said.

The route she'll take will include the Atlantic, crossing over Greenland, Canada, and South America, before going to Alaska and then Crossing to Russia and Indonesia.

She will start from her home city of Brussels and return to Europe in 3 months.

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