FIVE THINGS ABOUT THE YOUNGEST WOMAN TO FLY AROUND THE WORLD SOLO

1 THE PILOT

Belgian-British Zara Rutherford set off in her one-seater

Shark Ultralight plane in August last year, with the 19-yearold's sights set on becoming

the youngest woman in the world to fly around the world

solo. The record had been previously held by American Shaesta Waiz, who was 30 at the time of her attempt in 2017.

2 THE ROUTE

The route had taken her through the U.K., Iceland, Greenland, Canada, the U.S. and Latin America to Colombia, then back north via Alaska

to Russia, China, Indonesia, India and the Middle East before ending in Belgium.

3 STUCK IN SIBERIA

Although there were many hair-raising moments for

the teenager during the 50,000-kilometre odyssey, it was the sub-zero temperatures

of the Russian winter that proved the scariest. She told the Telegraph: “I'd be going

hundreds and hundreds of kilometres without seeing anything human — no electricity

cables, no roads, no people — and I thought `if the engine

stopped now I'd have a really big problem.' ” When she landed in the port town of Magadan in northeastern Siberia, a local mechanic blocked up some of the air intakes on her aircraft

to keep the engine warm in the extreme cold. Despite the

tweaks to the 325-kilogram single-propeller plane, Rutherford was grounded in the town for several days, before spending another three weeks in the

village of Ayan near the Sea of Okhotsk as she waited for bad weather to pass. She was

forced to rely on the goodwill of locals for supplies, who she said were “very willing to help.”

4 MORE DANGER

Other dangers faced by the young pilot during her journey

included an earthquake in Veracruz, Mexico, which shook

the sixth-floor hotel room she was staying in, as well as thunderstorms in Singapore, wildfire smoke in California

and smog over Delhi.

5 SUCCESS

After 260 hours of flying, Rutherford achieved her goal Thursday night as she touched down at a small airfield in Flanders

to become the youngest woman to fly solo around the world. Greeted by her family and well-wishers as she

arrived at Belgium's Kortrijk-Wevelgem airport, Rutherford wrapped herself

in British and Belgian flags and told reporters: “It's just

really crazy, I haven't quite processed it.” As well as being

the youngest woman to complete the challenge, Rutherford has become the first woman to circumnavigate the world

in a microlight, and the first Belgian to circumnavigate the

world solo by air.

JOHN THYS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGE Belgian-British teenage pilot Zara Rutherford, aboard her Shark ultralight, lands at the end of her solo round-the-world trip in her Belgian hometown of Kortrijk on Thursday.