An autogyro, or gyroplane, is a class of rotorcraft that uses an unpowered rotor in free autorotation to develop lift. While similar to a helicopter rotor in appearance, the autogyro's unpowered rotor disc must have air flowing upward across it to make it rotate.
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body. This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth.
Sir Francis Charles Chichester KBE was a British businessman, pioneering aviator and solo sailor.
The Scaled Composites Model 311 Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer is an aircraft designed by Burt Rutan in which Steve Fossett first flew a solo nonstop airplane flight around the world in slightly more than 67 hours in 2005. The flight speed of 342 miles per hour (550 km/h) set the world record for the fastest nonstop non-refueled circumnavigation, beating the mark set by the previous Rutan-designed Voyager aircraft at 9 days 3 minutes with an average speed of 116 miles per hour (187 km/h).
Jennifer Murray is a pilot. In 2000 she circumnavigated the globe in a Robinson R44 helicopter, travelling 36,000 miles (58,000 km) in 97 days, earning her the Guinness World Record for the first helicopter circumnavigation by a woman.
Michael Perham is an English sailor and adventurer from Potters Bar. In 2007 at the age of 14 he became the youngest person in the world to successfully sail across the Atlantic Ocean single-handedly, beating the record set in 2003 by British sailor Seb Clover. In 2009 at the age of 17 he became the youngest person to sail around the world solo. Perham's second record surpassed that of Zac Sunderland, an older 17-year-old American, set only six weeks earlier. Following this, Perham's adventures included driving around the world and racing in many offshore races, most notably the Sydney to Hobart yacht race in 2011 where his team placed second in class.
Captain Barrington Irving Jr. CD is a Jamaican-born American pilot who previously held the record for the youngest person to pilot a plane around the world solo, a feat he accomplished in 2007. He is also the first black person and first Jamaican to accomplish this feat. His aircraft, a Columbia 400, is named the "Inspiration." It was manufactured and assembled by the Columbia Aircraft Mfg. Co. in 2005 using over $310,000 in donated parts, and is classified as a standard aircraft in the utility category.
The Shark.Aero Shark is a conventionally laid out, single engine, low wing ultralight aircraft and light-sport aircraft which seats two in tandem. It was first flown on 19 August 2009 and is built in both Slovakia and the Czech Republic by Shark.Aero. It has optionally fixed or retractable landing gear.
Babar Suleman and Haris Suleman were a Pakistani-American father-son pilot duo who were attempting to fly around the world in 30 days to promote education, when their single-engine plane crashed into the South Pacific Ocean near Pago Pago on 22 July 2014 on the final leg of their journey, killing Haris and leaving his father Babar, also on board, missing.
This is a list of the fastest circumnavigation, made by a person or team, excluding orbits of Earth from spacecraft.
Robert DeLaurentis is an American aviator, businessman, and author. He was the first solo pilot to fly a Piper Malibu Mirage, a small, single-engine plane, around the world from May 17, 2015, to August 14, 2015. The flight covered 26,000 nautical miles and 23 countries in 98 days for a fundraising campaign to support aviation programs. On August 10, 2020, DeLaurentis completed a 9-month, 26,000–nautical mile polar circumnavigation and global peace mission, "One Planet, One People, One Plane: Oneness for Humanity" in his modified 1983 aircraft named "Citizen of the World".
Wang Zheng, also known as Julie Wang, is an airline pilot and an FAA Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) in the United States, where she resides. She is the first Asian woman to circumnavigate Earth in an airplane. Wang is also the first Chinese pilot to fly solo around the world and the eighth woman to do so.
Kane Avellano is a British adventurer and a long distance motorcycle rider. As of August 2017, Avellano holds the Guinness World Record as the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe by motorcycle.
Norman Surplus was a pilot from Northern Ireland who circumnavigated the globe in an autogyro, nicknamed "Roxy". His trip began in 2010 and ended on 28 June 2019. In 2010, during the first leg of his trip, Surplus flew over Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and North America. In June 2015, Surplus commenced the second leg of his journey by flying through the United States and crossing the Atlantic Ocean to eventually land in Larne, Northern Ireland in August 2015, becoming the first person to cross the Atlantic in an autogyro. In 2019, he completed the last leg of his journey when he finally obtained permission from the Russian Federation to fly through its airspace. He left Larne on Easter Monday in 2019, and flew through Russia to eventually reach the United States and land at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in Oregon completing his circumnavigation of the globe in an autogyro. Surplus's AutoGyro MT-03 is currently displayed at the EAA Aviation Museum initially to remain there for the duration of AirVenture 2020. Surplus took nine years to complete his journey around the world, and flew over 32 countries, over a total distance of 27,000 miles (43,000 km). In a 2015 interview with the CBC, while on a stopover at Iqaluit, Canada, Surplus mentioned that the trip should have taken approximately four months but the problems with obtaining permission to fly over Russia, which persisted for three years, derailed his plans.
Ravinder Bansal, is an Indian American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and amateur pilot from Clarence, New York. He was the first person of Indian origin to fly around the world solo in a single engine plane.
Zara Rutherford is a Belgian-British aviator. At age 19, she became the youngest female pilot to fly solo around the world and the first person to complete a circumnavigation in a microlight aircraft after a five-month journey which began in Kortrijk, Belgium, on 18 August 2021, and ended on 20 January 2022.
Travis Ludlow is an English aviator. In 2021, he became the youngest person to fly solo around the world at age 18 years old, a record he held for 1 year.
Mack Rutherford is a British-Belgian aviator. On 24 August 2022, under the name Macksolo, he became the youngest person ever to fly solo around the world. He holds four Guinness World Records: These include youngest person to fly solo around the world - previously held by Travis Ludlow, and, youngest person to fly a microlight solo around the world - previously held by his sister Zara Rutherford.
