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Perhaps I'm not as rich as everyone else on HN, but I feel like this is a frivolous game for rich kids. The entry bar here is being able to afford planes, fligh

Perhaps I'm not as rich as everyone else on HN, but I feel like this is a frivolous game for rich kids. The entry bar here is being able to afford planes, flight lessons, airport fees, fuel, hotels, etc. more so than anything else. At 19, that means rich parents. I came out distinctly underwhelmed with the accomplishment, and overwhelmed by the self-congratulatory copy. (Yes: I do know the amount of time and effort required; I really hoped to learn to fly and did deep dives, but wasn't rich enough at the time)

parsimo2010 5y ago
She's most likely upper-middle class and definitely spent several thousand euros of her (family's) money. But I think you might be overestimating how much she personally spent. Look at all her sponsors (https://flyzolo.com/partners/ https://flyzolo.com/partners/). She didn't go out and buy a Shark at full price of 127k, it was either lent to her by Shark or she got a good discount. All her other sponsors helped out with money or products in exchange for being part of a record setting flight. Some of the copy might sound over the top, but it's way easier to attract help when you're postured as "a young woman with an entrepreneurial spirit on a mission to break down gender barriers, set records, and inspire other young women" instead of "please give me money, I want to go fly."
- DarylZero 5y ago
  Those sponsors aren't sponsoring many people. Even if her parents didn't pay for it, the barriers being mostly cost mean it's not competitive.
  - Thorrez 5y ago
    It's competitive in that people have to compete for funding. Sounds like academia. Of course you have to have money to begin with to train to be a pilot.
    - DarylZero 5y ago
      No, there isn't enough _total_ funding for it to be competitive.
      - Thorrez 5y ago
        I'm not sure I get what you're saying. I think that there is some funding in existence, and people can compete for it.
aeternum 5y ago
You need some disposable income but don't necessarily need rich parents. A pilots license is doable with $5-10k depending on where you are in the country and whether you purchase time in blocks. Training in the bay area is ridiculously expensive because of fuel plus the sheer amount of time you spend waiting for other traffic. Looks like she also has quite a few sponsors so perhaps she was able to fund the trip through those.
- sverhagen 5y ago
  I agree that this doesn't require being part of the ultra-wealthy, but $5-10k is still a lot of money to a lot of people.
shroompasta 5y ago
Even if that is the case, this is more laudable than other "frivolous" hobbies that rich kids can get into. I'd take this over a young socialite with a functional drug issue any day of the week. If you're rich and you make the most of it, then cheers to you. Hope she reaches her dreams of becoming an astronaut.
asciimov 5y ago
Looks like both of her parents were Pilots and she has been flying since she was 6.
Improvotter 5y ago
That is a very pessimistic way to view and discredit someone else's great achievement. I can definitely say that at least in Belgium, it is very possible to do this as a middle class family. Also to note that there are still sponsors who do help out as well. Focusing on the important part again, hugely proud to see Belgium represented like this and to see the ambition of Zara.
tasha0663 5y ago
I confess, I'm not sure what's terribly impressive about this either. Flight isn't exactly something new. Was there some kind of time limit or maximum number of stops?
- coding123 5y ago
  Most of the other 18 year olds I knew when I was that young were proud of the drunken party they had the night before. It's fucking damn impressive.
- jcims 5y ago
  Watch some videos of cross country flights in single engine planes (ultralights no less) on YouTube. There is a lot going on. Add to that the challenges of interacting with control towers literally all over the world, looking for traffic, managing weather, the endurance of being buffeted around in a tiny plane and the existential anxiety of placing your life in the proverbial hands of a rotax engine for months on end. Did she cure cancer or save the whales or reverse global warming or whatever else might clear the bar for 'terribly impressive'? No. But it's still a pretty amazing accomplishment and regardless of what was placed in front of her she still had to do the time.
- gkanai 5y ago
  > I'm not sure what's terribly impressive about this either. It is not easy to do this. Losing the engine at the wrong time or place would have meant near certain death especially in the winter regions. Very few people have done this, and none at her age/gender. It's a tremendous accomplishment even if you do not think so.
GuB-42 5y ago
So what? Yes people are richer, more gifted, more athletic than others. Can't we celebrate an achievement because not everyone can do it? All Olympic athletes have exceptional genetics and most people simply can't stand a chance no matter what they do. And most of them are not poor either, does it undermine the achievement? And it is not that much money. Clearly, it is not for the poor, but it is something achievable for the upper-middle class in North America or Europe, you don't need to be a billionaire for that, not even a millionaire. Yes, flight lessons are expensive, but we are talking ultralights here, not jets, a flight hour is less than $100. As for the the "self-congratulatory copy", that actually makes the accomplishment even better. Really rich parents could have just bought a plane and hire a few guys to plan for everything, register the record, done, the "rich kid" would only do the flying. She actually had to look for sponsors, set up a shop, and actually build something to finance the trip, it may even become profitable. It is not just a trip, she is essentially building a company and a personal brand, and while Zara obviously gets a lot of help, she is still at the center. Very impressive for a 19 year old, even with "rich parents" helping her.
- tsol 5y ago
  What makes it less impressive is the barrier to entry. What's amazing about being the fastest runner in the world is that most anyone can try, so to be the single fastest runner is a feat no one else the world over can accomplish. Flying an airplane across the world, while cool, is something limited to only wealthier people. Maybe you'd be able to do it, but you just can't afford to try. Not saying there isn't anything to it, it's just that it's something that even trying for is limited to a privileged few. And not to be overly cynical-- but add in concerns about global warming and fuel waste, and well it just can feel like wealthy people entertaining themselves with wasteful activities limited to the wealthy
- thomasz 5y ago
  > So what? Yes people are richer, more gifted, more athletic than others. Can't we celebrate an achievement because not everyone can do it? Because one of these is not like the others. You can play Soccer with four stones and a can. Consequently, legends have arisen from the working class, sometimes from abject poverty. We can say with certainty that there are not thousands upon thousands of people who could run circles around Cristiano Ronaldo. In a sport that excludes 99% of the world's population, we can only guess.
cracrecry 5y ago
You don't need to be rich to make something like that. Any middle class family in USA or Europe can do that, they just need to go for a smaller house, not a second house for vacations or not so expensive cars. I have seen that, parents investing money on their children instead of on other things. It is their money they got working and they could do with it what they want. You are just envious. Flying gets cheaper over time and in the future with electrification is going to become even cheaper.
- blip54321 5y ago
  ... or maybe I'm living in a reality where the vast majority of people where I live are struggling with with rent and dreaming of home-ownership, or with their mortgage, and not buying second houses. I'm not sure which reality you're living in, but it seems... disconnected.
kitd 5y ago
FWIW, in addition to the other comments, I believe that it's the first time it's been done by a woman in a microlight. That may or may not change your mind, but it does require a significant amount of skill to pilot something like that for so long, handling so many different conditions.

parsimo2010 5y ago

She's most likely upper-middle class and definitely spent several thousand euros of her (family's) money. But I think you might be overestimating how much she personally spent. Look at all her sponsors (https://flyzolo.com/partners/ https://flyzolo.com/partners/). She didn't go out and buy a Shark at full price of 127k, it was either lent to her by Shark or she got a good discount. All her other sponsors helped out with money or products in exchange for being part of a record setting flight. Some of the copy might sound over the top, but it's way easier to attract help when you're postured as "a young woman with an entrepreneurial spirit on a mission to break down gender barriers, set records, and inspire other young women" instead of "please give me money, I want to go fly."

DarylZero 5y ago
Those sponsors aren't sponsoring many people. Even if her parents didn't pay for it, the barriers being mostly cost mean it's not competitive.
- Thorrez 5y ago
  It's competitive in that people have to compete for funding. Sounds like academia. Of course you have to have money to begin with to train to be a pilot.
  - DarylZero 5y ago
    No, there isn't enough _total_ funding for it to be competitive.
    - Thorrez 5y ago
      I'm not sure I get what you're saying. I think that there is some funding in existence, and people can compete for it.

aeternum 5y ago

You need some disposable income but don't necessarily need rich parents. A pilots license is doable with $5-10k depending on where you are in the country and whether you purchase time in blocks. Training in the bay area is ridiculously expensive because of fuel plus the sheer amount of time you spend waiting for other traffic. Looks like she also has quite a few sponsors so perhaps she was able to fund the trip through those.

sverhagen 5y ago
I agree that this doesn't require being part of the ultra-wealthy, but $5-10k is still a lot of money to a lot of people.

shroompasta 5y ago

Even if that is the case, this is more laudable than other "frivolous" hobbies that rich kids can get into. I'd take this over a young socialite with a functional drug issue any day of the week. If you're rich and you make the most of it, then cheers to you. Hope she reaches her dreams of becoming an astronaut.

asciimov 5y ago

Looks like both of her parents were Pilots and she has been flying since she was 6.

Improvotter 5y ago

That is a very pessimistic way to view and discredit someone else's great achievement. I can definitely say that at least in Belgium, it is very possible to do this as a middle class family. Also to note that there are still sponsors who do help out as well. Focusing on the important part again, hugely proud to see Belgium represented like this and to see the ambition of Zara.

tasha0663 5y ago

I confess, I'm not sure what's terribly impressive about this either. Flight isn't exactly something new. Was there some kind of time limit or maximum number of stops?

coding123 5y ago
Most of the other 18 year olds I knew when I was that young were proud of the drunken party they had the night before. It's fucking damn impressive.
jcims 5y ago
Watch some videos of cross country flights in single engine planes (ultralights no less) on YouTube. There is a lot going on. Add to that the challenges of interacting with control towers literally all over the world, looking for traffic, managing weather, the endurance of being buffeted around in a tiny plane and the existential anxiety of placing your life in the proverbial hands of a rotax engine for months on end. Did she cure cancer or save the whales or reverse global warming or whatever else might clear the bar for 'terribly impressive'? No. But it's still a pretty amazing accomplishment and regardless of what was placed in front of her she still had to do the time.
gkanai 5y ago
> I'm not sure what's terribly impressive about this either. It is not easy to do this. Losing the engine at the wrong time or place would have meant near certain death especially in the winter regions. Very few people have done this, and none at her age/gender. It's a tremendous accomplishment even if you do not think so.

GuB-42 5y ago

So what? Yes people are richer, more gifted, more athletic than others. Can't we celebrate an achievement because not everyone can do it? All Olympic athletes have exceptional genetics and most people simply can't stand a chance no matter what they do. And most of them are not poor either, does it undermine the achievement? And it is not that much money. Clearly, it is not for the poor, but it is something achievable for the upper-middle class in North America or Europe, you don't need to be a billionaire for that, not even a millionaire. Yes, flight lessons are expensive, but we are talking ultralights here, not jets, a flight hour is less than $100. As for the the "self-congratulatory copy", that actually makes the accomplishment even better. Really rich parents could have just bought a plane and hire a few guys to plan for everything, register the record, done, the "rich kid" would only do the flying. She actually had to look for sponsors, set up a shop, and actually build something to finance the trip, it may even become profitable. It is not just a trip, she is essentially building a company and a personal brand, and while Zara obviously gets a lot of help, she is still at the center. Very impressive for a 19 year old, even with "rich parents" helping her.

tsol 5y ago
What makes it less impressive is the barrier to entry. What's amazing about being the fastest runner in the world is that most anyone can try, so to be the single fastest runner is a feat no one else the world over can accomplish. Flying an airplane across the world, while cool, is something limited to only wealthier people. Maybe you'd be able to do it, but you just can't afford to try. Not saying there isn't anything to it, it's just that it's something that even trying for is limited to a privileged few. And not to be overly cynical-- but add in concerns about global warming and fuel waste, and well it just can feel like wealthy people entertaining themselves with wasteful activities limited to the wealthy
thomasz 5y ago
> So what? Yes people are richer, more gifted, more athletic than others. Can't we celebrate an achievement because not everyone can do it? Because one of these is not like the others. You can play Soccer with four stones and a can. Consequently, legends have arisen from the working class, sometimes from abject poverty. We can say with certainty that there are not thousands upon thousands of people who could run circles around Cristiano Ronaldo. In a sport that excludes 99% of the world's population, we can only guess.

cracrecry 5y ago

You don't need to be rich to make something like that. Any middle class family in USA or Europe can do that, they just need to go for a smaller house, not a second house for vacations or not so expensive cars. I have seen that, parents investing money on their children instead of on other things. It is their money they got working and they could do with it what they want. You are just envious. Flying gets cheaper over time and in the future with electrification is going to become even cheaper.

blip54321 5y ago
... or maybe I'm living in a reality where the vast majority of people where I live are struggling with with rent and dreaming of home-ownership, or with their mortgage, and not buying second houses. I'm not sure which reality you're living in, but it seems... disconnected.

kitd 5y ago

FWIW, in addition to the other comments, I believe that it's the first time it's been done by a woman in a microlight. That may or may not change your mind, but it does require a significant amount of skill to pilot something like that for so long, handling so many different conditions.