CHARLEROI, Belgium — A Belgian-British teenage pilot is set to become the youngest person to fly around the world solo in a small plane. Mack Rutherford landed Tuesday in southern Belgium ahead of the penultimate leg of his global odyssey.
Weather permitting, the 17-year-old aviator is due to land in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, on Wednesday, some five months after setting out. That would break the record set by 18-year-old Travis Ludlow in 2021.
Rutherford is flying a fast ultralight Shark with a cruising speed reaching 300 kph (186 mph). It’s the same kind of aircraft his 19-year-old sister Zara used to set the world record in January for the youngest woman to fly solo around the world.
