Teen pilot reaches Kenya in round the world quest
A 16-year-old schoolboy who is on a quest to
become the youngest person to fly around the world solo, landed his small plane
in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, on Wednesday.
Mack Rutherford, who has British and Belgian
nationality, started his journey near the Bulgarian capital Sofia in March and
is looking to clinch a Guinness World record currently held by compatriot
Travis Ludlow, who was 18 when he completed a circumnavigation last year.
"I'm hoping, with this journey, to
inspire young people to follow their dreams," Rutherford said after
clambering out of his two-seater single prop ultralight aircraft, at Wilson
Airport.
The plane's manufacturer, Shark Aero, deemed
the journey too risky and declined to partner with Rutherford's project.
"Mack is no doubt a skilled pilot.
However, we do not feel comfortable pushing the age limit to the lowest
possible point for journeys where a certain level of risk cannot be
avoided," the company said on its website.
Rutherford's journey will see him visit four
more African and Indian Ocean countries, before heading to the Middle East,
Asia and North America and finally returning to Europe.
Coming from a family of pilots, Rutherford
first took the controls of an aircraft at the age of seven, sitting alongside
his father.
At 15 he became the youngest pilot in the
world and is now following in the footsteps of his older sister Zara, the
youngest woman to fly around the world at age 19.
Visibility was a challenge while flying
across the Sahara desert, he said, but the scenery more than made up for it.
"It hasn't let me down, I've absolutely
loved the views both around the Sahara desert and in Kenya," he said.
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