By John M. Dahlen
By now you have probably heard of Zara Rutherford. She is the 19-year-old brilliant and charismatic pilot from Belgium who is flying a high-performance, VFR-only, ultralight airplane solo around the world! When she completes the mission, she will officially become the youngest women to have ever completed a solo flight around the world. The Alaska Airmen’s Association is a proud sponsor of her mission, and presented her with a check for $1,000 while she was in Anchorage.
This mission is not the frivolous whim of a wild-eyed teenager. Zara is a very focused pilot who is meticulous in her planning of each individual leg of this epic adventure. She prefers to view each day as an individual VFR flight to plan and conduct, because focusing on the entire journey as one trip can easily become overwhelming. She is supported by a world class Ops Team with whom she consults regularly to collaborate about aircraft maintenance matters, weather, revisions in flight planning as needed, visas, permits, and landing rights in each of the more than 50 countries she plans to visit.
Zara also carries a global message. She is presenting herself as an example to inspire more girls and young women to pursue STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education programs, and aviation-related careers. Despite progress being made in my lifetime, the gender gap in these areas remains clear. Zara hopes to show girls and young women that the doors are wide open, and that these goals are attainable for them worldwide.
As anyone who flies up here in late September and early October can attest, it is not uncommon for flight planning to include the dynamic of hurry-up-and-wait! More than a few pilots in Alaska have been bitten by “get-there-itis.” We all know how easy it is to get seduced into this insidious mindset by a variety of psychological pressures, if we don’t establish and strictly adhere to our own personal limits for safe flying. I’ll never forget the day as a young ride-along, that the PIC tried three IFR approaches (“I’ll Find Runways”) into Birchwood Field (PABV), a non-tower airport near Anchorage. Only after a Cessna 152 crossed our nose with minimum separation on our third attempt, also not broadcasting his position or intentions, did my PIC decide we should divert to a VFR alternate for the night. But Zara has consistently demonstrated her ability and willingness to resist such dangerous mindsets; refusing to launch, or turning back, when things weren’t within her personal operating limits. While it wasn’t her mission to do so, she has also shown other pilots how doing so demonstrates a great deal of maturity and internal strength; not weakness!
After departing Redding, CA (KRDD) for Boeing Field (KBFI) in Washington, she returned to KRDD after encountering reduced visibility from wildfire smoke, and spent an extra day on the ground there. Enroute from Boeing Field (KBFI} to Juneau (PAJN) after three days on the ground at KBFI due to weather delays, she landed instead in Ketchikan (PAKT) and encountered 2 more additional weather delays before continuing on to Juneau (PAJN). All the while pressure was mounting from the looming expiration date on her Russian visa! Zara and her team knew that, in addition to the worsening weather as she headed north further into Alaska, she could only get a Russian visa extension if she was in Russia before her visa expired. This would become a very significant added pressure on her team to begin getting drawn in to get-there-itis.
She spent another 4 days on the ground in Juneau; a combination of weather and maintenance delays. Shark-1 had developed an aileron deflection anomaly that would ultimately require local aircraft mechanics to obtain testing protocols from the manufacturer in Croatia, which led to wing removal more than once to effect repairs. She was originally due in Anchorage on 09/22, and she was finally able to safely depart PAJN for Anchorage on 09/29! After an unplanned stop in Yakutat (PAYA) after encountering more turbulence than either she or Shark-1 were comfortable with, she was able to continue on; arriving at Merrill Field (PAMR) in Anchorage the same day. Her goal was to continue on to Nome (PAOM) after a couple hours on the ground at PAMR. The expiration date on her visa was looming on the near horizon now. She had to be in Russia by 09/30. But alas, the aileron deflection anomaly had returned!
Please forgive me if this next segment sounds a little bit biased, but I graduated from the University of Alaska-Anchorage (UAA). The UAA Aviation Technology and Maintenance Staff not only hosted the public meet and greet for Zara’s arrival, and provided overnight hangar space for Shark-1. Dr. Ishmael Cremer, Interim UAA Aviation Director made the UAA facilities available to work on Shark-1. Chip Kell, UAA Assistant Director/Aircraft Mechanic headed up a team of 4 UAA Aircraft Mechanics, including Scott Sebastian, Rania Rollin, Michael Chamberlain, and Kyle Wolner. They worked well after quitting time Wednesday night, and were back on it after they had prepped all of their own aircraft for the first morning flights. Rhyan McMillan, Chief Pilot for Hilcorp, who also provided all overnight accommodations for Zara while in Anchorage, recruited 2 more aircraft mechanics to round out the team – Joe Marcinek from Hilcorp, and Rob Hoecher from Pathfinder Aviation arrived first thing Thursday morning, October 30th to assist. Over the course of the time Shark-1 was in the hangar, both wings were removed at least once, repairs were made, indicators were proactively added for quick and easy future inspections to determine if the nuts they adjusted had loosened again. Zara did a test flight Thursday morning to see if everything was right again. Then, by prearranged plan if the test went well, she did a flyby over the runway and gave us a wing wave before heading off to Nome!
Epilogue: Zara arrived safely in Nome Thursday evening, September 30th. Unfortunately, she ran out of time to make it to Russia that evening before her visa expired. So, it appears her journey is on hold until she can obtain a new visa. But, as always, Zara had prioritized safety first, even when the opportunity for get-there-itis was at its greatest. You can continue to follow her progress around the world at her website (www.flyzolo.com) when she is able to resume this epic adventure!
John Dahlen is a Life Member of the Alaska Airmen’s Association, and the U.S./Russia Liaison. He has been working directly with Zara and her ops team to coordinate her ground needs and activities while in Anchorage.