In January of 2022, Belgian-British 19-year-old Zara Rutherford made history when she became the youngest woman to fly solo around the world by plane. Now, 17-year-old Mack Rutherford — Zara’s brother — is attempting to make history of his own by becoming the youngest person ever to circumnavigate the globe solo by plane.
Rutherford’s journey began on March 23 in Sofia, Bulgaria — the home of his web hosting company sponsor ICDSoft — and has taken him through Italy, Greece, Egypt, Madagascar, Pakistan and Taiwan, just to name a few. Rutherford will make roughly 80 stops on his globetrotting expedition, according to the official schedule posted on his website macksolo.com, including an overnight stay in Ketchikan on Thursday.
Departing from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport earlier in the day, Rutherford touched down at Ketchikan International Airport just one minute after his scheduled 1:15 arrival time. He hopped out of his Shark UL single-engine aircraft with a wide smile and eagerly greeted the small group gathered to welcome him to the First City.
Before sitting down with the Daily News, Rutherford took time to review general maintenance options for the plane with Misty Fjords Air & Outfitting Director of Operations David Doyon II, who had offered his services and airport hangar to Rutherford.
He described his flight from Anchorage to Ketchikan as “quite easy” and “very beautiful,” explaining that he was able to follow the Alaskan coastline for most of the flight. He said that he utilizes a mixture of his phone and his plane’s onboard GPS to navigate.
Rutherford — who first took the controls and “flew” with his father at age seven — comes from a long line of aviators. In addition to his sister’s accomplishments, his father, Sam, is a professional aircraft ferry pilot; his mother, Beatrice, is a recreational private pilot; his great-grandfather and grandmother were both private pilots and his great-great grandmother was among the first South African women to learn to fly. His great-grand uncle also flew a Consolidated PBY Catalina aircraft during WWII.
After getting his pilot’s license at 15 years old, Rutherford wasn’t sure of his next move. After his sister’s historic flight however, his objective became obvious.
Behind Rutherford is an eight person team, which includes his mother, father and sister which manages everything from his flight operations and safety, to social media and press interactions. Several members of the “MackSolo” team were a part of his sister’s expedition, which was sponsored by ICDSoft.
Besides wanting to follow in his sister’s footsteps, Rutherford hopes to inspire other young people to follow their dreams, regardless of their age.
“I really enjoy flying and this is an amazing way that I can fly all around the world and get more experience,” Rutherford said. “But with my trip, I also want to show that young people can make a difference. Just follow your dreams. You don’t have to be 18 to do something. Just work towards them and eventually they’ll come true.”
Highlights of his journey so far have included spotting African wildlife while passing over Amboseli National Park in Kenya, taking in the lush rainforests of Burma and spending the night on the uninhabited Attu Island, which is the last piece of Alaska’s Aleutian Chain and the westernmost part of the United States.
“I really liked Attu Island, the first stop in the U.S., because it's a completely abandoned island,” Rutherford said. “There's not a single person there, just an abandoned airport. I landed there and it was just an amazing island. It was very weird to be somewhere where there's absolutely no one, not a single person, so that was very special. And I didn't have any food, so I had Oreos for supper.”
Rutherford explained that his original maximum flight time was five hours, but that the addition of multiple “turtle packs,” which sit in the aircraft’s backseat, have increased its range to 13 hours of flight time at 125 knots (approximately 143 miles per hour). He said the latest extra fuel capacity was added in South Korea, and was essential in making the 10-hour flight from Japan to Attu Island.
Despite many long flights, Rutherford said he doesn’t usually have issues staying focused. Although he admitted he’s let his mind drift on occasion.
“The mind does definitely wander, but it's surprisingly easy to keep your focus,” Rutherford said. “You are always looking around, there's always things to see. But yeah, sometimes just after eight hours, you do kind of get a bit sleepy, but I've never actually gotten to the point where I'm close at all to actually falling asleep. Just keep looking around, making sure everything's ok, and carry on.”
When it comes to the “call of nature” when airborne, Rutherford manages by not eating while flying and limiting his drinking. He said he has a bottle onboard for emergencies, but hasn’t used it yet.
Although his journey has been relatively smooth so far, there have been a few complications along the way. Rutherford recalled narrowly avoiding striking an eagle while flying over Kenya, and flying so high over the Sahara Desert that his fuel tank stopped working. His fuel supply luckily resumed normal operation once he descended below a certain altitude, but Rutherford described the instance as “very scary.”
He’s also about a month behind schedule.
Rutherford said that he expected the trip to take about three months, but he’s now entering the fourth month of flying after multiple lengthy delays in Dubai — during which he celebrated his 17th birthday — related to travel documents. He also had to change his original flight plan which would have taken him through Russia, due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
His official schedule expects him to arrive back in Bulgaria on Aug. 25, but Rutherford said it's “unlikely that I'll be able to land exactly on that date.”
As long as he makes it back in time for his final year of school, he’ll be in good shape.
Rutherford plans to attend college after graduating, and is considering enlisting in the British Royal Air Force at some point down the line. As for now, he simply wants to “keep flying.”
Rutherford departed Ketchikan on Friday and arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport the same day.
*This article was originally published in the Ketchikan Daily News*
Comments