Australian teen lands in Hollister on around the world flight

For Australian teen Lachlan Smart, all-nighters are not for crunching before exams. The 18-year-old pilot pulled one while flying his plane from Hawaii to California.

Smart is on a quest to beat a 19-year-old South Dakota teen who currently holds the world record as the youngest solo pilot to circumnavigate the globe in a single engine plane.

“During this trip, I’m going to cover about 45,000 kilometers over 7.5 weeks,” said Smart. “Next stop: I will be heading to Europe, and then I will be just touching North Africa, going through Egypt and through the Middle East and back into Asia, and going to Australia again.

Smart’s fascination with aviation began when he was 2 years old, when his mother would take him to a local airport to watch planes take off and land, so it’s only natural that he learned to fly before he could even drive.

“So in Australia, you can’t get your learner’s permit until you are 16, and you can’t drive until you are 17. So I was flying when I was 16,” said Smart. “My dad used to drive me to the airport and I’d go and fly an airplane. He’d pick me up after because I wasn’t allowed to drive home”

Now a seasoned pilot, Smart is still learning from each take off.

“Flying long distance in small aircraft present their own challenges — everything from comm to fuel planning.,” he said. “I have a saying that if there is doubt, there is no doubt. If I have a doubt that the trip is not going to be safe, I put it back a day or however long to make sure that it’s going to be right. “

In addition to breaking world records, Lachlan hopes to inspire others to spread their wings and fly high.

“A lot of the time back home in Australia, when I was in school and during my time as a cadet, often people say ‘I wish I could do this or when I get older.’ So I want to show by doing something that I think is hard, that people can get out there and give life a go. The sky is not the limit and I’m trying to prove that.”