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FlyZolo – Youngest Woman Solo
21–30 of 53 posts
Re: FlyZolo – Youngest Woman Solo
#22The route is interesting: https://flyzolo.com/route/ I can understand some of the latitude changes to reach shorter ocean crossings, but it looks like the route was stretched in various places to touch more countries. Very cool journey.
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Re: FlyZolo – Youngest Woman Solo
#23This is pretty amazing. I'm exhausted after flying for an hour, let alone weeks. Really, really hats off to her. If you've got a bit of spare time, you might like this video series, which features a bunch of young US male pilots flying across the Atlantic in a small GA plane. It is quite an interesting journey. And no, there isn't a toilet! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9Uf-ynoDUE&list=PLoruKoPAfK...
That video w/ Guthmiller in a Cessna 210 was great. That plane seats 6 on paper but the back seat was filled by an auxilliary gas tank. The cabin width is narrower than my old 1997 VW Jetta!! It's like crossing the northern Atlantic in an original VW Beetle!
Re: FlyZolo – Youngest Woman Solo
#24Perhaps I'm not as rich as everyone else on HN, but I feel like this is a frivolous game for rich kids. The entry bar here is being able to afford planes, flight lessons, airport fees, fuel, hotels, etc. more so than anything else. At 19, that means rich parents. I came out distinctly underwhelmed with the accomplishment, and overwhelmed by the self-congratulatory copy. (Yes: I do know the amount of time and effort r…
I confess, I'm not sure what's terribly impressive about this either. Flight isn't exactly something new. Was there some kind of time limit or maximum number of stops?
Most of the other 18 year olds I knew when I was that young were proud of the drunken party they had the night before.
It's fucking damn impressive.
Re: FlyZolo – Youngest Woman Solo
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
She's most likely upper-middle class and definitely spent several thousand euros of her (family's) money. But I think you might be overestimating how much she personally spent. Look at all her sponsors ( https://flyzolo.com/partners/ ). She didn't go out and buy a Shark at full price of 127k, it was either lent to her by Shark or she got a good discount. All her other sponsors helped out with money or products in exc…
Those sponsors aren't sponsoring many people. Even if her parents didn't pay for it, the barriers being mostly cost mean it's not competitive.
It's competitive in that people have to compete for funding. Sounds like academia.
Of course you have to have money to begin with to train to be a pilot.
Re: FlyZolo – Youngest Woman Solo
#26Good for her.
I read a bio of Amelia Earhart when I was eleven. It made a huge impression on me. I hope Zara inspires many future generations.
Re: FlyZolo – Youngest Woman Solo
#27Perhaps I'm not as rich as everyone else on HN, but I feel like this is a frivolous game for rich kids. The entry bar here is being able to afford planes, flight lessons, airport fees, fuel, hotels, etc. more so than anything else. At 19, that means rich parents. I came out distinctly underwhelmed with the accomplishment, and overwhelmed by the self-congratulatory copy. (Yes: I do know the amount of time and effort r…
I confess, I'm not sure what's terribly impressive about this either. Flight isn't exactly something new. Was there some kind of time limit or maximum number of stops?
Watch some videos of cross country flights in single engine planes (ultralights no less) on YouTube. There is a lot going on. Add to that the challenges of interacting with control towers literally all over the world, looking for traffic, managing weather, the endurance of being buffeted around in a tiny plane and the existential anxiety of placing your life in the proverbial hands of a rotax engine for months on end.
Did she cure cancer or save the whales or reverse global warming or whatever else might clear the bar for 'terribly impressive'? No. But it's still a pretty amazing accomplishment and regardless of what was placed in front of her she still had to do the time.
Re: FlyZolo – Youngest Woman Solo
#28Quoted post unavailable.
11 years is a pretty significant jump. More than that, it's bringing it from 30 to 19. Having an international pilot rating takes some time and effort; Being able to do this at 19 is pretty impressive in its own right.
In terms of being a role-model for other women, showing that this can be done at 19 might be perpetually inspiring to the younger generation that otherwise sees 30 as pretty far away.
Re: FlyZolo – Youngest Woman Solo
#29Quoted post unavailable.
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Re: FlyZolo – Youngest Woman Solo
#30The route is interesting: https://flyzolo.com/route/ I can understand some of the latitude changes to reach shorter ocean crossings, but it looks like the route was stretched in various places to touch more countries. Very cool journey.
Notably, did not land in China... unless you count Taipei ROC.