Teenage Female Pilot Sets Flying Record
2022-01-21
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1Nineteen-year-old Zara Rutherford set the world record Thursday as the youngest woman to fly alone around the world.
2Rutherford took the Guinness World record that had been held by 30-year-old American flyer Shaesta Waiz since 2017.
3The youngest male to fly alone is Britain's Travis Ludlow.
4He set that record on July 12, 2021, when he was 18 years and 150 days old.
5The British-Belgian pilot started her trip around the world on August 18.
6It covered 51,000 kilometers over 52 countries and five continents.
7On Thursday, Rutherford landed her small airplane back in western Belgium.
8"It's just really crazy, I haven't quite processed it," she said.
9The flight was supposed to take three months.
10But bad weather and visa delays kept her grounded and extended the trip by about two months.
11Rutherford started in Belgium and headed west over Britain, Iceland, and Greenland.
12The path took her over Canada, the United States, and Latin America.
13Rutherford could not leave Alaska for a month because of weather and visa delays.
14A winter storm forced another long stop in the Russian Far East before she traveled to Korea, Indonesia, India, the Middle East, and back to Europe.
15To meet the requirement for a round-the-world flight, Rutherford had to land on two points opposite each other on Earth: Jambi in Indonesia and Tumaco in Colombia.
16The teenager said the last part of her trip, from Germany, had been difficult.
17She had to deal with rain and snow coming out of Frankfurt.
18But she was happy to be accompanied by the Belgian Air Force's Red Devils team before landing.
19"The people were incredible, everywhere," she said.
20Rutherford said she has been traveling in small planes with her pilot parents since she was six.
21She gained her pilot's license in 2020 and started flying herself at 14.
22Rutherford dreams of being an astronaut.
23She hopes her trip will get more women interested in science, technology, and aviation.
24On her website, Rutherford wrote, "Boys learn through toys, street names, history classes and movies that they can be scientists, astronauts, CEOs or presidents."
25She added, "Girls are often encouraged to be beautiful, kind, helpful and sweet. With my flight, I want to show young women that they can be bold, ambitious and make their dreams come true."
26I'm Dorothy Gundy.
1Nineteen-year-old Zara Rutherford set the world record Thursday as the youngest woman to fly alone around the world. 2Rutherford took the Guinness World record that had been held by 30-year-old American flyer Shaesta Waiz since 2017. The youngest male to fly alone is Britain's Travis Ludlow. He set that record on July 12, 2021, when he was 18 years and 150 days old. 3The British-Belgian pilot started her trip around the world on August 18. It covered 51,000 kilometers over 52 countries and five continents. On Thursday, Rutherford landed her small airplane back in western Belgium. 4"It's just really crazy, I haven't quite processed it," she said. 5The flight was supposed to take three months. But bad weather and visa delays kept her grounded and extended the trip by about two months. 6Rutherford started in Belgium and headed west over Britain, Iceland, and Greenland. The path took her over Canada, the United States, and Latin America. 7Rutherford could not leave Alaska for a month because of weather and visa delays. A winter storm forced another long stop in the Russian Far East before she traveled to Korea, Indonesia, India, the Middle East, and back to Europe. 8To meet the requirement for a round-the-world flight, Rutherford had to land on two points opposite each other on Earth: Jambi in Indonesia and Tumaco in Colombia. 9The teenager said the last part of her trip, from Germany, had been difficult. She had to deal with rain and snow coming out of Frankfurt. But she was happy to be accompanied by the Belgian Air Force's Red Devils team before landing. 10"The people were incredible, everywhere," she said. 11Rutherford said she has been traveling in small planes with her pilot parents since she was six. She gained her pilot's license in 2020 and started flying herself at 14. 12Rutherford dreams of being an astronaut. She hopes her trip will get more women interested in science, technology, and aviation. 13On her website, Rutherford wrote, "Boys learn through toys, street names, history classes and movies that they can be scientists, astronauts, CEOs or presidents." 14She added, "Girls are often encouraged to be beautiful, kind, helpful and sweet. With my flight, I want to show young women that they can be bold, ambitious and make their dreams come true." 15I'm Dorothy Gundy. 16Hai Do wrote this story for VOA Learning English with information from Guinness World Record, Reuters and the Associated Press. 17____________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19crazy -adj. very strange or unusual 20accompanied -adj. the state of going somewhere with someone else 21aviation -n. the business or activity of flying airplanes, helicopters or similar vehicles 22toy -n. an object for a child to play with 23We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.