A 17-year-old British-Belgian pilot has set a new world record by flying solo for five months. This teenager named Mac Rutherford flew his little shark plane over 52 countries and ended his journey in Sofia, Bulgaria, BBC reported.
After starting his journey from this capital of Bulgaria on March 23 of this year, he had to face all kinds of experiences. Had to face sandstorms in Sudan, had to spend the night on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean; McKay has also witnessed extreme heat in Dubai and the sudden closure of airports in India.
By overcoming all these obstacles, his aircraft has traveled over the skies of Europe, Asia, Africa and the United States, crossing two oceans.
Of course, not only the obstacles and setbacks, this teenager also said that he was thrilled by flying over the vast sanctuaries of Kenya or the skyscrapers of New York. His plane had taken off from London’s Biggin Hill Airport days before landing in Wick, Scotland, UK.
“I will fly. Thinking about going somewhere like the Air Force, not 100 percent sure about anything though,” said Mack about his future in an interview with CNN a few days ago.
His parents are British, raised and educated in Belgium.
Mack’s family can also be identified as a family of aviators. Their flying skills are several generations old.
Mac’s father Sam Rutherford is a professional ferry pilot, mother Beatrice is also a private pilot.
Her 19-year-old sister Zara set a record this year as the world’s youngest woman to fly solo around the world.
The aircraft that the world saw the Mack was a high performance very light aircraft with a normal speed of 300 kilometers per hour.
Mac also took various advices from his sister while going on the sky path. Zarao said that he tried to keep in touch with his brother all the time.
Mack received his pilot’s license in September 2020 at the age of 15.
After completing the five-month journey, the teenager broke two Guinness Book World Records. One of them is the record of the youngest pilot to circumnavigate the world solo, the other is the world circumnavigation in a microlight aircraft.
Before that, British pilot Travis Ludlow held the record as the youngest pilot to circumnavigate the world alone. He was 18 years and 150 days old when he completed the record-setting journey last year.
“Go ahead to fulfill your dreams, age is not an issue. Work hard and go for it,” said Mack, who dreamed of flying an airplane in just three years, in a message to everyone after setting the record.
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