Young US pilot aims to break aviation record for $1 million
- Ethan Guo is only 19 years old but he has big ambitions
- He’s aiming to break a huge aviation record for $1 million
- The money will going to a worthy cause
Published on Oct 15, 2024 at 11:16 AM (UTC+4)
by Ben Thompson
Last updated on Oct 15, 2024 at 3:11 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
This young American pilot is aiming to break a huge aviation record in a bid to win $1 million.
Ethan Guo is 19 years old and it’s safe to aim he’s already aiming high.
He’s not even of legal age to drink in his home country, and he’s already flown to several others.
Yep, you read that right – he’s flying a plane all by himself.
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What record is this young pilot trying to break?
Ethan is looking to raise $1 million to donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Based in Memphis, Tennessee, the hospital specializes in research and treatment of childhood cancers.
Although four out of five US children will survive a diagnosis, this is reversed in other countries where four out of five will not.
For Ethan, this is a personal cause.
On his website, he said: “In 2021 my cousin was diagnosed with cancer. I admire him. He inspired me to take life more seriously and join the fight against cancer.
@ethansbiography 3 days and 2500 miles later | Day 35-37 of flying to all 7 continents solo #flightagainstcancer #circumnavigation #plane #pilot #airplane #cessna #flying #transatlantic #atlanticocean #northatlanticocean #scottland #canada #iceland #greenland ♬ original sound – Ethan Guo 🛩️
“I want to use every opportunity to raise awareness of childhood cancer and the necessity to increase research efforts to find prevention and treatment methods.”
What challenge has he set himself to raise the money?
He wants to be the first person to visit every continent in a small plane – a four-seater Cessna 182 to be exact.
Hopefully there’ll be less issues with it than this 1956 Cessna 310 that a guy picked up from Facebook Marketplace.
Having been interested in aviation since the age of 13, he earned his private pilot license four years later.
Already, he has an impressive flight history to his name, having flown to 48 continguous US states (All states bar Alaska and Hawaii).
Not only that, but he’s crossed the Atlantic Ocean three times.
All in all, he’s racked up over 700 hours of flight time.
How is he doing so far in his challenge?
According to his TikTok, he’s already been to Canada, Greenland, Iceland and Scotland.
We hope he packed something warm to wear because those countries are anything but.
He’s had some mini-adventures along the way, including sharing a Scottish runway with the Royal Family themselves.
His most recent TikTok update placed him in Switzerland, where he stopped over for some plane repairs.
But the live tracker in his website indicates that he is now in Australia.
We wish him the very best of luck in reaching his goal.
If you want to donate and help fund research and treatment for childhood cancer, you can find more information on Ethan’s website.