By Abigail Oleniczak
Mack and Zara Rutherford aren’t just your typical sibling duo. These two set out to accomplish bold endeavors and ended up with an adventure that placed them in record books.
When she was 15, Zara decided to attend flight school in her homeland of France. And a few years later, Mack, also then 15, began his flight training.
Zara decided she wanted to set a world record and become the youngest to fly solo around the world. So after earning her pilot certificate, she continued to learn, train, and prepare. First, she needed to find an airplane and sponsors.
Zara wrote a post on LinkedIn about who she was and her ambition to fly around the world. She told companies that, in return for their support, she would display their logos on her aircraft. One day she was surprised when she received a phone call from Bulgaria about a sponsor interested in supporting her journey.
In the back of her mind, Zara said she often felt that “this wasn’t something meant for me to do.” But she always reminded herself, “You have to take the first step forward and reach for the skies.” The Rutherford siblings did just that.
Not long after, in August of 2021, Zara left for northern Scotland on her solo journey around the world. Crossing over the Atlantic would be her first long flight alone. Zara said, “This was a little out of my comfort zone. Flying over the ocean is quite cool, but also a little scary at times.”
But being a little frightened didn’t stop her from chasing her dream.
Flying around the world comes with many challenges, including bad weather, visa problems, and transportation issues in different countries. When Mack was circumnavigating the world in 2022, Zara would help by “flight following.” This meant she would send live updates to her brother about the weather through SAT.
The two siblings like to have more fun and help each other out instead of being competitive about holding world records. Five months after the start of Zara’s mission to fly solo, she completed her flight and safely returned home at 19.
Not long after Zara’s return, Mack wanted to set his own world record. From the age of 7, Mack was introduced to aviation and quickly grew a passion for it. At 15, he became a pilot and next had to decide on his route to circumnavigate. On March 10, he took off from Bulgaria, and not long after his first stop in Sicily, he decided to change his route and fly through east Africa.
Then, while flying over Egypt, he had an issue with his fuel pump. But thankfully, over the Sudan Desert where he thought he may have to perform an emergency landing, the problem with the pump resolved itself.
“My passion is aviation. Even if I am not able to fly around the world, my passion is still aviation,” Mack said.
With less than 100 hours in his logbook prior to the flight, Mack returned safely home in five months (at age 17 years and 64 days) and currently holds the Guinness World Record for the youngest pilot to circumnavigate around the world solo. Zara holds the Guinness World Record for youngest woman to circumnavigate the world solo (at age 19 years and 199 days). The two siblings hope to encourage others to believe that you can truly do anything if you put your mind to it.
Mack said he plans to continue flying and accomplish some smaller goals. In addition to flying, Zara is currently working on a degree in electrical engineering.