Florida pilot to attempt record-setting, solo around-the-world flight

OSHKOSH, WI – West Palm Beach pilot Julie Wang today announced her intention to circumnavigate the globe in a single piston-engine aircraft.

OSHKOSH, WI – West Palm Beach pilot Julie Wang today announced her intention to circumnavigate the globe in a single piston-engine aircraft. The planned route will cover 23,000 nautical miles, mostly over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.

If successful, Wang will become the first Chinese to have flown around-the-world solo, and the first Chinese woman to have completed a circumnavigation in an aircraft.


Wang is piloting a Cirrus SR22 single-engine, 6-cylinder, 310-horsepower aircraft. She plans 17 stops en route, ending back in Addison, TX, in about 25 days. The trip is promoted by the Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association (AOPA) China.

Wang, a native of Dalian, China, has lived in Florida for the last six years where she is a Palm Beach-based flight instructor with 1,600 logged flight hours.

She said she never considered she would undertake an around-the-world flight when she began flying in 2011. โ€œI had just gotten my private certificate and I had the chance to meet Chen Wei who had just become the first Chinese man to fly around-the-world. I had never dreamed I might someday attempt that kind of journey myself.

โ€œBut meeting him that day planted a seed in my mind,โ€ she explained. โ€œI told myself: โ€˜I could do thatโ€”I could actually fly around the world.โ€™ After a few years I found that the idea had rooted itself firmly in my mind and just about one year ago I started planning.โ€

Jeff Chang, who led sponsorship efforts through Ulink (Youlian) Financial Services, and is himself a pilot and aviation enthusiast, said of Wang: โ€œJulie is an accomplished pilot and instructor and has been preparing for this record-setting flight for over one year. We felt she really deserved our support. We want to be sure sheโ€™s got everything she needs to safely complete her historic flight.โ€

China automotive industry leaders Changan Ford Automobile Co., Ltd. and XCar decided to sponsor Wang as soon as they heard about her intention to attempt the record-setting trip.

โ€œZheng Wangโ€™s positivity emerges from her undertaking and facing the challenges of the flightโ€”unpredictable weather, long-time-island hopping, multi-language barrier, diverse custom cultures and so forthโ€”and precisely represents the Chinese national spirit, namely, โ€˜to challenge courageously and break through constantly,โ€™โ€ said XCar CEO Zhang Jingqiu.

Wang, a former global advertising strategist, is an Airline Transport Pilot, a certified flight instructor and an FAA-approved chief flight instructor for the Part 141 flight training courses provided by Zulutime Pilot, the Stuart, Florida, flight school where she serves as Chief Instructor.

About flying solo around-the-world, Wang says: โ€œItโ€™s not about doing something extreme or dangerous. Itโ€™s about making good decisions with available informationโ€”a skill all pilots must cultivateโ€”and perseverance. Itโ€™s also about showing that real accomplishment requires real investment. Iโ€™ve just passed 1,550 logged hours and flown 10 different models of aircraft. Itโ€™s only now that I feel mature enough as a pilot to undertake this challenge.โ€



โ€œThere are significant physical and logistical challenges to completing an around-the-world flight in a light aircraft,โ€ Wang explained. โ€œThe real challenge, however, is staying acutely focused on the mission at hand.โ€

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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