MACK RUTHERFORD BARRON HILTON AVIATION INSPIRATION AWARD

Mack Rutherford is a British/Belgian pilot that was born on June 21, 2005. Let that sink in! Mack has been flying with his parents, both skilled pilots themselves, since he can remember and has many aviation role-models in his family. His sister, Zara, is his biggest role model and encouraged him to go after his dream to circumnavigate the world solo in a plane.

His older sister, Zara, at age 19, had just flown solo around the world in a light sport aircraft and had become the record-holding youngest woman to fly around the word. As Mack watched Zara’s journey unfold, he also wanted to get approval from his dad and mom to follow his dream. Sponsorships were needed, plus Mack’s adventures needed to be tracked as he had significant global exposure.

Both Mack and Zara grew up criss-crossing continents and oceans in their family plane and they regularly traveled from Britain to Belgium for schooling. Their typical conversations were about flight planning, fuel stops, lots of paperwork, flying tips, and anticipated challenges in countries some kids have never heard about.

The Shark UL that Mack flew is day VFR only with a Rotax 912 engine. Mack didn’t have an instrument rating. Weather, of course, became a factor, and sometimes permit problems forced Mack to spend six weeks in Crete and Dubai.

Upon his completion of his solo flight around the world on August 24th, 2022, at the age of 17, he is now recognized as holding four Guinness World Records including; youngest person to fly solo around the world and youngest person to fly a microlight solo around the world. In September 2022, the Honourable Company of Air Pilots announced that Mack Rutherford had been awarded the Master’s Medal.

Mack is finishing his A-levels education in Britain. The mission of his solo circumnavigational trip was to inspire other young people to realize, reach for, and “Follow your dreams”.