19 year old flying solo around the world

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by javadog

I can’t believe she landed that at JFK. I’m not a pilot but I’ve watched videos of the lengthy approach to JFK and can’t imagine doing it in something that slow.

When my dad was learning to fly, in the late 50s or early 60s, he elected to go to SFO on his cross country trip… that didn’t go well.

My first solo CC was into Cedar Rapids. Not real big but I was in a 152 and told to make a short approach behind the DC-10 and in front of the 737. I made the short approach but landed really long. No way was I going to land short and get flipped by the DC-10.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by flipper35

My first solo CC was into Cedar Rapids. Not real big but I was in a 152 and told to make a short approach behind the DC-10 and in front of the 737. I made the short approach but landed really long. No way was I going to land short and get flipped by the DC-10.

My dad flew a 172 to SFO, so a little faster than your 152.

He did get flipped, while on the ground minding his own business, or so he thought. I don’t recall the details but I would bet that a 707 was the flipper that day.

[dmcummins]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

The ROTAX 912 ULS 100 hp engine is not your Sea-Doo's Rotax. Nice motor:

https://www.flyrotax.com/files/Bilder/Produkte%20Rotax/Datasheets/912%20ULS_Datasheet_2020.pdf

Very, very reliable engine.

I doubt, at her age, she has a dual engine ticket, or is instrument rated. I'll look it up later.



Always an issue.

We have 19 year-old men and women service members the world over. She is stretching, good for her.

I would think she has to be instrument rated. No way to fly those distances and expect them to be VFR. She probably got her ticket at 16, so she has had plenty of time for her IFR.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

I know she's someone's kid, but this young woman is hardly a kid.

There was a time, and I'm going from memory here, that the minimum age for single engine solo flight was like 14? And there were a lot of really young people trying some really long distances. And there were consequences....

In my mind, those people were kids.

And I don't mean for this to come off as throwing shade at you, Steve - not my intent. I just think that at 19 years old, a good percentage of women have left their 'kid' days far far behind...

(Now, as for those 33 year old men living at home in their parent's basement, well, totally different scenario)

In many ways, you are absolutely right. At the same time, at 51, for me, anyone under 30, or certainly 25 is a kid. It's certainly no knock on her, her abilities, her endeavors, or her accomplishments.

[KNS]

Originally Posted by flipper35

She seems to be going the opposite direction as the last solo pilot.

Does seem strange, most all round the world flights go West to East to take advantage of prevailing winds.

[masraum]

She landed in FLL (Fort Lauderdale) yesterday.

Go Zara!

https://wsvn.com/news/us-world/19-year-old-pilot-zara-rutherford-stops-at-fll-while-attempting-solo-round-world-record-bid/

A European teenager is taking flight to reach an inspiring goal: to be the youngest woman to fly around the world.

Zara Rutherford’s journey brought her to South Florida.

The 19-year-old landed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Monday.

The Belgian-British teen is on an inspiring mission to become the youngest woman to fly around the world solo.

“Hoping to encourage girls to get into S.T.E.M., so science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and aviation,” she said. “This is something that, growing up, I didn’t see many women do and so that was always quite discouraging for me, so I’m hoping to change that.”

Rutherford’s journey is expected to take three months.

She took off from her home nation of Belgium back on Aug. 11.

Rutherford is expected to travel to 52 countries before returning home.

“I have been to, well, Belgium, I traveled through the UK, Iceland, Greenland, Canada and then the US,” she said. “Now I’m here in Miami.”

Rutherford is the daughter of two pilots.

She’s completing the journey in a Shark Ultralight, the world’s fastest light-sport aircraft. The teen is flying about five hours a day.

Despite the historic significance of the flight, Rutherford said, “It definitely does get quite lonely, just because you realize that it’s just you. There’s nobody to contact. It really is just you.”

What’s next for Rutherford?

“After this, I’m heading down south to South America, Colombia, and back up north through the west coast to Alaska, Russia and then into Asia,” she said.

She isn’t expected to return home until November.

For Guinness World Records to consider the trip as one around the world, Rutherford has to cross points on opposite sides of the globe.

[Otter74]

That's an impressive woman who is going to go far in whatever she does.

[GH85Carrera]

I have to assume, and hope that she has safe airports planned ahead, to land at in Mexico. There is a LOT of scary jungle and lots of bad guys that would love to have a really nice airplane. She is braver than I am to fly through that area.

Good luck to her.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

I have to assume, and hope that she has safe airports planned ahead, to land at in Mexico. There is a LOT of scary jungle and lots of bad guys that would love to have a really nice airplane. She is braver than I am to fly through that area.

Good luck to her.

With the organization and sponsorship, I suspect those sorts of logistics are pretty well covered. I can't imagine that Virgin/Branson would put his name and money on/toward this girl's effort and not do everything that he could to ensure that she succeeds.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by dmcummins

I would think she has to be instrument rated. No way to fly those distances and expect them to be VFR. She probably got her ticket at 16, so she has had plenty of time for her IFR.

not a pilot but..

1) Aren't Ultralights restricted to lower airspace restriction than General Aviation?
-That would mean she would getting constantly beat up and bounced around by ground effects in a lightweight CF airframe.
-It's like riding a motocross bike with a solid axle.
-Or a roller coaster for hours.
-No setting autopilot and cruising on the trade winds in a Cadillac ride.

2). The Ultralight category is much slower.
-180 mph in the impressive SHARK vs. 280 mph in a similar looking Lancair Legacy is a HUGE difference in speed.
-Driving across country on dirt back roads instead of freeways.

3). Fuel capacity and weight limits equal more landings.
-The design of the SHARK looks like it will have a higher stall speed.
-No small airports. More communication and more potential problems in foreign lands.

Those factors alone make her journey significant.

[gordner]

Ultralights are not limited by virtue of being ultralights. Like any aircraft, they have service ceilings, and is it is most likely unpressurized, that is likely the limiting factor for altitude.
Ground effect occurs basically within one and a half wingspans of the ground, so certainly not an issue for her. She would fly clear air as much as possible, just like any other flight.

She may very well have autopilot, that would depend on how the airframe is outfitted. I would wager she does for that flight.

[911 Rod]

Very cool.
I'm sure it helps that both of her parents are pilots.

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by john70t

not a pilot but..

1) Aren't Ultralights restricted to lower airspace restriction than General Aviation?
-That would mean she would getting constantly beat up and bounced around by ground effects in a lightweight CF airframe.
-It's like riding a motocross bike with a solid axle.
-Or a roller coaster for hours.
-No setting autopilot and cruising on the trade winds in a Cadillac ride.

2). The Ultralight category is much slower.
-180 mph in the impressive SHARK vs. 280 mph in a similar looking Lancair Legacy is a HUGE difference in speed.
-Driving across country on dirt back roads instead of freeways.

3). Fuel capacity and weight limits equal more landings.
-The design of the SHARK looks like it will have a higher stall speed.
-No small airports. More communication and more potential problems in foreign lands.

Those factors alone make her journey significant.

It is equivalent of a light sport aircraft here, other than the speed restrictions. Like a J3 Cub or Sonex type plane.

[masraum]

She completed her trip!

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/19-year-old-woman-completes-around-the-world-solo-flight-180979441/

It took her 155 days, but 19-year-old Zara Rutherford accomplished her goal: to become the youngest woman to fly solo around the world. Last week, her plane touched down in Kortrijk, Belgium, completing a globe-trotting trip that spanned five continents and 28,000 nautical miles, report Taylor Haney and Scott Neuman for NPR.

“I made it,” the British-Belgium native told reporters upon her arrival at Kortrijk-Wevelgem Airport, per Tamara Hardingham-Gill of CNN Travel. Her journey was expected to take three months but lasted two months longer due to poor weather and visa problems.

Rutherford departed Belgium on August 18 in a Shark UL plane, a two-seat ultralight plane equipped with extra fuel tanks, two radios and a parachute. Along the way, she landed in 41 countries, staying in some for weeks at a time while waiting for flying conditions to improve or for entry approval at her next destination.

“The hardest part was flying over Siberia—it was extremely cold and if the engine was to stall I’d be hours away from rescue. I’m not sure I would have survived,” she says at a press conference, according to BBC News.

The young pilot undertook her global flight as part of an effort to encourage girls and women to consider aviation as a career. She also supported two charities during her flight: Girls Who Code, which helps young women with computer science, and Dreams Soar, a nonprofit assisting women and girls in STEM (science, technology, electronics and mathematics) fields established by pilot and previous record-holder Shaesta Waiz, per CNN Travel

Because her plane was not certified to fly using instruments, Rutherford had to maintain visibility by avoiding clouds, sometimes flying as low as 1,500 feet. This put her at risk of encountering thunderstorms.

“In Singapore, I got quite close to a lightning strike,” she tells NPR.

Rutherford spent a month on the ground in Alaska and 41 days in Russia while waiting out delays. She had to detour around North Korean airspace and was forced to make an unscheduled landing in California because of wildfire smoke.

“At one point, I just couldn’t see anymore,” she says in the NPR article. “It got really turbulent.”

Rutherford also had to stop in Greenland after losing radio contact for several hours. According to Mike Ives of the New York Times, she sent her parents a two-word text message once she was safely on the ground: “I’m alive.”

Originally, Rutherford had intended to complete her global adventure before the end of 2021. However, repeated delays caused her to alter her plans, per CNN Travel.

“I was hoping to complete it by Christmas but I guess that’s not happening anymore,” she told reporters at in South Korea after arriving there on December 13. “But it’s an adventure.”

Rutherford was unable to tour any localities she stopped in because of Covid-19 restrictions, but she says she was struck by the beauty of the places she flew over and the kindness of strangers who assisted her when she was landbound, including a young family with a newborn that hosted her in Alaska.

“When I left, his daughter was five weeks old, so I was there for over half her life,” she says, per the New York Times.

n addition to becoming the youngest woman to circumnavigate the globe, Rutherford is the first woman to do so in a microlight aircraft, per BBC News. The previous record for youngest woman was set by Waiz in 2017, who was 30 at the time.

Waiz greeted Rutherford in Florida during one of her stops and offered words of encouragement. When learning the younger woman had accomplished her goal, the previous record-holder told the Times, “It just goes to show that it doesn’t matter what your gender or your age is; it’s all about determination.”

The youngest person to fly solo around the globe is Travis Ludlow of Great Britain, who was 18 when he did so in 2021.

Rutherford comes from a family of aviation aficionados. Her British father flies commercially while her Belgian mother is a recreational pilot. Both were on hand to greet her when she landed back in Belgium, where she was greeted by cheers. Rutherford tells CNN Travel she has been learning to fly since she was 14, and received her first license in 2020. She hopes her journey will inspire more young girls and women to get into aviation.

“It’s an easy thing to say, but just go for it,” she says. “If you don’t try and see how high you can fly, then you’ll never know.”

[SCadaddle]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

One of our former customers was a retired SR-71 pilot. When we discovered that we quizzed him on every visit for stories. He said more than once he would call his wife and say "Honey I will be home for supper tonight" and climb in at a base that he described as just "Indochina" area, overfly North Vietnam, and set the nose for home. Land, at Edwards AFB, debrief, and drive home for dinner. Just a tad more expensive of a flight and no landings in between, just air to air refueling.

This one needs a follow up story, one of the greatest ever if you are a pilot or into the whole aviation thing..

[livi]

Thats one cool bird indeed. Well done.

[GH85Carrera]

At one of the Oklahoma City air shows at Will Rogers airport, the Air Force brought in a SR-71. It was so cool to see it circle over the city a bit, then come in and land. The final day of the air show it left as part of the show. Full afterburner take off. It has a tanker with it's special fuel follow it to the airport, and it was on display as well.

I really hope the Air Force has something as fast or faster in the air now. I know it is approaching the speed limit in air from friction, so it will be interesting to see how they beat the air friction problem.

[javadog]

I was there for that, a really cool plane.

I spent some time a few years ago BS’ing with Brian Shul, he’s an interesting dude.

[ted]

That plane has every modern option available.
Complete glass dash.
Does she really have to fly it?
Program the computer and it fly's itself?
All she does is landings and take offs.
Otherwise just sits in it for hours.