Eurobond Adhesives Ltd is sponsoring 19 year old Zara Rutherford in her attempt to become the youngest female pilot to fly solo around the world.
Zara’s adventure will begin when she takes off from Kortrijk airfield in Belgium in her two seat Shark microlight aircraft. Her stated aim and motivation for the trip is: “To inspire young people, in particular girls, to engage in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects at school and to motivate them to enter into technical or scientific careers.”
What makes Zara’s round the world attempt even more remarkable is that she has only held her private pilot’s licence for under two years, having qualified at the age of just 17. The aircraft selected to carry her safely around the globe is a Shark UL, a cutting-edge example of the most modern high performance two seat tandem ultralight aircraft.
It features retractable undercarriage and a smaller, high efficiency wing design together with a variable-pitch propeller and a high tech cockpit interior. The aircraft is designed and constructed using the most advanced carbon fibre epoxy composite technology and incorporates many lightweighting design features such as the use of adhesive bonding to replace mechanical fixings. Zara’s machine is powered by a ROTAX 912 ULS 100 hp engine delivering a cruising speed of 140 knots and a range of around 1,600 km. She will visit 52 countries spanning 5 continents and will take around 3 months to complete her record breaking attempt.
“Zara is a truly remarkable and courageous young woman and is a great role model, especially so for other young women. Our business shares much in common with Zara: embracing cutting edge technology, pushing boundaries and challenging science – in our case to supply some of the best high performance adhesive bonding solutions and most advanced dispensing equipment. 70% of the Eurobond workforce is female and everyone here will be following her world record attempt with a keen eye. We wish her a safe and successful trip,” commented Simon Dearing, managing director at Eurobond Adhesives.
Having spent a decade in the fastener industry experiencing every facet – from steel mills, fastener manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, as well as machinery builders and plating + coating companies, Claire has developed an in-depth knowledge of all things fasteners.
Alongside visiting numerous companies, exhibitions and conferences around the world, Claire has also interviewed high profile figures – focusing on key topics impacting the sector and making sure readers stay up to date with the latest developments within the industry.
