If all goes according to plan, Mack Rutherford will soon become the world's youngest solo pilot. But first, Happy His Valley His Goose stops at his bay and pays tribute to the search and rescue crew who saved his father's life.
For his teenager, a Belgian-British man aiming to be the youngest to fly around the world, visited Labrador this week. 89}. Not only is it one of his final destinations on his journey, but it's also a tribute to his family's aviation history.
McRutherford arrived at Happy Valley Goose Bay on Wednesday and was greeted by members of the public and his Goose Bay 5 Wing on the runway. He received a commemorative five-wing coin, a copy of the Labrador history magazine Them Days , and a portion of the mineral labradorite.
Rutherford, , aged 17, said he was thrilled to be greeted by those who had arrived during his journey.
" [something] will probably never happen again," he said.
Rutherford I started my journey in March when I was 16 and was due to complete it in 2-3 months, but I ran into problems with visas, paperwork and permits. He had some delays — he was stuck in Crete for a month and a half, then again in Dubai for another and a half months. He still hoped to finish his trip at the age of 16, but delays made that impossible. He turned 17 on his June 21st.
He wanted to go back to when he was only sixteen, though.
Current record holder Travis Ludlow set the record when he was 18 years old. If all goes according to plan, Mack will complete his journey in less than a week and return to his starting point in Sofia, Bulgaria, though he is still over a year younger than Ludlow.
Rutherford said the first step in planning a trip like his is to identify a route.
"If he doesn't know where he is going, he can't go anywhere," he said. "I picked two points facing each other...and found a route between them. The route has changed a lot since then, but that's just the beginning."
Rutherford flies an ultralight called the Shark that reaches cruising speeds of 300 km/h. Rutherford says he typically flies about 5,500 feet above the ground. This is low enough to see all the countries he flies over .
Family of Aviators
Raised in an aviation family, Rutherford has flown nearly all his life. He piloted an airplane when he was seven years old. He began flying frequently with his parents when he was 10 and obtained his pilot's license when he was 15.
At the time, he was the youngest pilot in the world, he said. He's following in the footsteps of his older sister Zara, who completed his round-the-world solo flight earlier this year, becoming his youngest woman.
"When I got my license, I knew I wanted to do something special in the aviation industry, but I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do. After flying around, I knew what I wanted to do was to fly around the world," said Rutherford.
"She gave me quite a few hints... If there are clouds or mountains, always try to go around them so you can land in another spot. Then." }
In preparation for his journey, Rutherford, along with his father Sam, a pilot "ferrying" an airplane, made his two Completed transatlantic flight. Man.
Sam Rutherford survived a fatal blizzard-hit crash near Makovik in 2019 and spent hours on the hillside while Makovik's ground search and rescue team made their way to his location. left behind.
On his way to Greenland on Thursday, Mack Rutherford flew over Makovik to pay tribute to those who saved his father.
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