FlyZolo - Flying along with Zara Rutherford, youngest woman going solo around the world

This would be nice to follow along, includes her flight plan as well:
https://flyzolo.com/route/

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These all around the world trips make me wonder what might be the motivation behind such a flight plan.

It is highly exhausting flying such small planes (probably without air conditioning) for hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and more neverending hours.

Compare how long the fun would really last with driving a sports car: It is absolute fun and beautyful driving a great car!
But it is getting a little bit annoying after two hours or so, it is getting highly exhausting after three or four hours… and now imagine said car having no air condition and probably a weak heater, while making nonstop drives for ten hours or more.
And when the weather is overcast you will see nothing but a white flat mass under the plane.

Impressive adventure - that´s for sure.
But doing this and flying such tremendous distances with such a slow general aviation plane is getting very exhausting over time, and also highly risky because these single engine GA planes are normally not certified to cross the atlantic ocean.
Good luck when the engine fails while flying over water - I would not recommend making this flight because one should always stay clear of water with single engine planes.
There are a lot of YouTube videos discussing the high failure rate of GA planes, plus the weather can get unpredictable over the ocean.

A flight from South America to the Arctic circle and back is much safer. :slight_smile:

Consider it on the level of climbing Mt Everest. You probably consider it exhausting and something you’d never do, but, we all know there are people out there who love it!

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Been around the world in the Spitfire and going around again in the DC-6 (in the sim, obviously). I like the challenge of navigation, what live weather throws up etc. You got to have a hobby right? :slight_smile:

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Well… that was a good explaination! Now I can feel the motivation behind such an adventure better, it is some kind of challenge for her.

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I’m just completing a round the world trip in the Sim in the TBM, 2 months. All of my real world flying has been paid for by the military, the police, and the company I flew corporate for, so crucially I’ve always flown where I was told to. Using the sim really allows me to explore those parts of the world I would never have the time or money to do in real life.

Hmmm I feel its just the opposite :slight_smile:

First unlike the ground breaking Voyager flight which was a nonstop round the world flight Zara is hopping from place to place landing at many places.

Yes it can get tiring during some legs but this is the chance of a lifetime and that negates the tiredness.

So this flight is actually a LOT of fun. Tons of chances to shoot approaches into different airports in all kinds of weather and terrain. The scenery is also amazing.

We all know the risks of single engine over the ocean but remember it has been done for years. Recall that during WWII in places like the Pacific theater single engine planes were out over the vast Pacific - while being shot at!

Planes like the TBM, PC12 etc are routinely ferried from Switzerland to the USA on Atlantic hops.

Zara like all ferry pilots has all the modern tech, a survival suit and no doubt satellite phone, immersion emergency locator beacon etc. Not to mention her team is tracking her every move.

Finally one other reason to do this IS the element of risk. Its what adds excitement to our lives. Its why people jump out of planes (skydive), base jump, wingsuit, bungee, white water rafting and on and on. So shes doing it for the excitement, the challenge… :slight_smile:

Best of all she must be encouraging so many to consider aviation as a career or at least motivate someone to get their license to fly small planes.