Mack Rutherford: Teenage pilot on solo round-world flight arrives Kenya

He was welcomed on the runway by students and staff of the Kenya School of Flying.

Rutherford’s planned circumnavigation of the world using a Shark ultralight aircraft started on March 23 in Sofia, Bulgaria, two months after his 19-year-old sister, Zara Rutherford, set the world record for the youngest woman to fly solo around the world.

**”There have been quite a few difficult places in terms of visibility, such as Khartoum, where the visibility was quite low, where I have always managed to land perfectly safely. And then actually in Nairobi, the cloud base was very low and there were high mountains so I had to sort of weave around, but it was completely fine and I am very happy.”**Mack Rutherford said upon his arrival in Nairobi.

Chief flight instructor Capt Sestilio David said Rutherford’s visit was “inspiring” and that it would serve to “motivate the young aviators” of the school.

“We are quite pleased to have him around. At his age, doing such a great task, it is inspiring for us, even as a school and we are able to motivate the young aviators we have, those who are training in different levels be it PPL (Private Pilot License), CPL (Commercial Pilot License) or even those who are doing their multi-training. It is quite a good thing and this is a challenge and of course through that, they are able to work more, towards achieving more.”

Mack announced his plans on February 15 at London Biggin Hill Airport, which was less than a month after Zara Rutherford completed the solo round-world flight, aged 19.

Mack, who is currently in the middle of his A-levels, became the youngest pilot in the world after he qualified at age 15.

The current record for the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo is held by Briton Travis Ludlow, who was 18 at the time.