On August 24th 2022, Mack Rutherford, a 17-year-old British-Belgian pilot who attends Sherborne School in Dorset, completed his mission and became the youngest person in history who has flown solo around the world in a small aircraft.
He landed in Sofia, Bulgaria, where his sponsor ICDSoft is based. His journey lasted five months and one day. With his flight, Mack wanted to show that young people can pursue their dreams and achieve amazing things. It might not be easy or smooth sailing, but with grit and perseverance chances of success are on your side. He hopes he will inspire youngsters to pursue their dreams, who in turn, will inspire more youngsters to do the same. Hopefully, creating a virtual domino effect of youngsters making a difference. Mack?s journey took twice as long as expected and was filled with challenges that he needed to solve one at a time. On 23 March 2022, two months before his seventeenth birthday, Mack took off from Sofia West in Bulgaria. He headed to Italy and Greece, where he faced a 6-week delay, having to alter his route and obtain the necessary permits and documents required for further flight. From there he flew south to Africa, crossing Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar and Mauritius.

Next, he headed north to Oman and UAE, where again, he was delayed for more than 5 weeks, waiting for an Iranian permit that eventually did not come in fast enough. He decided to alter his route again to Pakistan, India, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea and Japan. Next, h...