A 19-YEAR-OLD Belgian-British pilot, Zara Rutherford, set a world record as the youngest woman to fly solo around the world, touching her small airplane down in western Belgium on Thursday, 155 days after she departed.

Rutherford will find herself in the Guinness World Records book after setting the mark that had been held by 30-year-old American aviator Shaesta Waiz since 2017.

The overall record will remain out of Rutherford’s grasp, since Briton Travis Ludlow set that benchmark last year as an 18-year-old.

Her global flight in her ultralight Shark plane was supposed to take three months, but relentless bad weather and visa issues kept her grounded for weeks on end at times, extending her adventure by about two months.

On Thursday, rain, drizzle, sunshine and even a rainbow over Kortrijk-Wevelgem Airport exemplified the changing, often bad weather she had been facing all too often. After she was escorted by a four-plane formation in a huge V across much of Belgium, she did a flyby of the airport before finally landing. After waving to the jubilant crowds, she embraced her parents and draped herself both in the Union Jack and Belgian tricolor flag.

She had had to deal with -31 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius below zero) in Siberia and 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 degrees Celsius) in Indonesia. Fog, smoke from wildfires and even typhoons also held her back.

In her trek of more than 28,000 nautical miles (51,856 kilometers), she stopped over in five continents and visited 41 nations.

Rutherford’s flight saw her steer clear of wildfires in California, deal with biting cold over Russia and narrowly avoid North Korean airspace.

Sometimes she feared for her life, and at other times she simply yearned for the simple comforts of home. Flying runs in her blood, since both her parents are pilots and she has been traveling in small planes since she was 6. At 14, she started flying herself.

(SD-Agencies)