19-year-old pilot Ethan Guo is currently flying solo around the world with his small aircraft to raise $1 million for Stage-4 blood child cancer research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
Guo, who turned 19 in July 2024, aims to become the youngest person to fly solo to all seven continents with a 50-year-old Cessna 182 aircraft. Guo plans to travel for 100 days and cover around 80,000 kilometers (50,000 miles).
By September 10, 2024, Guo had already visited all 48 contiguous US states and flown across the Atlantic three times, totaling over 700 hours in the air. According to his official fundraising website, the 19-year-old pilot is currently in Switzerland.
Guo plans to visit 60 countries, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India, Indonesia, Australia, the Philippines, China, and Japan, and cross the northern Pacific to Alaska. He will then continue through Canada and the US before finally heading to South America and Antarctica. Guo began his journey in May 2024, departing from Memphis, Tennessee.
The teen pilot began flying lessons at 13 years old and earned his private pilot’s license at 17. According to his website, when he first discovered flying Guo learned that the youngest pilot to have circumnavigated the world was 19 at the time, giving him six years to set a new record.
“Finding the joy and knowledge in aviation genuinely fascinating, I decided not only to start learning but also to bring meaning to my learning experience by aiming to break the record,” he detailed.
Before the trip, Guo removed the rear seats from his Cessna 182 to accommodate an additional fuel tank. The teen pilot can fly for up to 17 hours at a speed of 140–150 knots. Additionally, the aircraft has a satellite connection with his ground team and three emergency locator transmitters on board.
The flight was inspired by his cousin who was diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Guo said that he wanted to inspire and help “as many people as possible who are suffering from this disease”.
“As a young man, I watched the disease affect the people closest to me, such as my grandparents and aunts, little by little. Since then, I decided to do what I could for Cancer research,” Guo added.
The 19-year-old pilot is documenting his journey on TikTok, claiming that he is trying to inspire other people by “challenging the impossible and pushing the limits”.
“To help more people pay attention and gain a better understanding of cancer, I will be documenting its impact worldwide during my journey,” he added.
As of September 11, 2024, Guo has already raised $37,870.