Teenage pilot Zara Rutherford begins solo round-world record bid

A teenage pilot has set off on an attempt to become the youngest woman to fly solo around the world.

Zara Rutherford, 19, took off on her three-month adventure from Kortrijk in Belgium just before 10:00 BST - half an hour late due to the weather.

She made her first stop at Popham Airfield in Hampshire at 11:30.

The former pupil of St Swithun's School, Winchester, aims to fly over 52 countries and cross the equator twice during her trip.

The current female record holder is American Shaesta Waiz, who was 30 at the time of her challenge in 2017. The youngest male record holder was 18.

Miss Rutherford's preparation has included dunker training - practising how to get out of an aircraft under water - as well as maintenance of her plane.

The circumnavigation includes 70 planned stops with 19 rest days and is due to conclude back in Kortijk on 4 November.

Miss Rutherford, who lives in Belgium, said the "greatest challenge" would be 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," she said.

Miss Rutherford spent five years at St Swithun's School, which is one of the sponsors of the challenge.

Headmistress Jane Gandee said her former pupil was a "self-deprecating young woman who models determination, initiative and a healthy disregard for stereotypes".

"She has become aware of how girls and women are under-represented in some areas of life, particularly aviation, science and technology and she wanted to do something to counter this," Ms Gandee added.

The teenager, who comes from a family of pilots, began training when she was 14 and gained her pilot's licence in 2020.

She is flying a Shark UL - an ultralight sport aircraft which holds a number of speed records.

She will fly to Wick, via Aberdeen, before heading across the Atlantic Ocean to Iceland, Greenland, then Canada.

Her itinerary will take her down the east coast of the US to South America before heading up the west coast back to Alaska, crossing to Russia, East and Central Asia, before returning to Europe via the Middle East.

The route has been chosen to fulfil Guinness World Records' requirements to be an "around-the-world flight".

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