Matt Guthmiller

Matthew Lee Guthmiller (born November 29, 1994) is an American aviator, YouTuber,[2] entrepreneur, professional speaker, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumnus.[3] In 2007, aged 12, he founded an early iPhone unlocking company, AnySIMiPhones.[4][5] In 2014, at age 19, Guthmiller became the youngest person to fly solo around the world, a record he held for two years.[note 1][10] In 2019 he became the youngest member of the South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame, on exhibit at the South Dakota Air and Space Museum.[11][12]

Matt Guthmiller
Guthmiller in 2014
Born (1994-11-29) November 29, 1994[1]
Aberdeen, South Dakota, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
EducationMassachusetts Institute of Technology
Known forOne-time youngest pilot to circumnavigate by aircraft, solo (19 years, 7 months, 15 days)[1]
Aviation career
Full nameMatthew Lee Guthmiller
First flightJuly 25, 2011
1975 Cessna 150M
Famous flightsGlobal Circumnavigation Flight May 31 – July 14, 2014
Flight licenseNovember 29, 2011
Websitewww.mattguthmiller.com

Early life

Born and raised in Aberdeen, South Dakota, Guthmiller took an interest in aviation from a young age.[13] Growing up he gradually drifted more toward math and science, in particular computer science, which led him to pursue several business ventures.

He started his first company, AnySIMiPhones, at age 12, selling software to unlock the newly released iPhone, which at the time was only available in the U.S. and only on AT&T, so that it could be used with any (GSM) cell carrier worldwide. After being in business for only a few weeks, Guthmiller sold his company to a similar company, FreeIt4Less, and joined their team. Together they unlocked around 20,000 iPhones in dozens of countries.[4]

As the unlocking market dried up after Apple announced the iPhone 3G and its availability in multiple markets in 2008, Guthmiller moved on to pursue his interest in finance. Guthmiller pursued several projects aimed at analyzing financial market data with supercomputers in order to uncover ways to predict the likelihood of future price movements.[4]

Solo flight around the world

After getting bored one weekend in the summer of 2011, Guthmiller realized he could obtain his pilot certificate in a few months when he turned 17. Having wanted to fly his entire life, he convinced his parents to allow him to do a "$20, 20-minute intro flight" at a local flight school.[14] He was instantly hooked. Soloing just a couple weeks later, he earned his private pilot certificate on his 17th birthday before going on to pursue an instrument rating, glider rating, his commercial pilot certificate, and a seaplane rating.[15]

After reading a May 3, 2013, article about 20-year-old Californian Jack Wiegand, who was about to become the youngest person to fly solo around the world, Guthmiller decided he wanted to attempt the same record. After a year of planning, Guthmiller left Gillespie Field in El Cajon, California (San Diego) on May 31, 2014,[16] and 44 days, 12 hours later landed back at Gillespie on July 14, 2014, to become the youngest person to ever circumnavigate the globe by aircraft at 19 years, 7 months, and 15 days old.[1]

During his flight in 2014, Guthmiller spent 180 hours in a small, single-engine 1981 Beechcraft Bonanza, N367HP, and made 23 stops in 15 countries on 5 continents. The longest flight was 16.5 hours from Pago Pago, American Samoa to Hilo, Hawaii. In order to carry enough fuel for such long legs, Guthmiller had the rear four seats removed and extra fuel tanks installed and took off as much as 25% over the aircraft's maximum certificated takeoff weight (authorized by an FAA ferry permit).[17] Guthmiller and the plane have since been featured at EAA Airventure Oshkosh[18] and the National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center,[19] and he shares his story with audiences around the country in various speaking engagements[3] and in popular aviation media content.

Notes
  1. It was subsequently broken by Australian Lachlan Smart in 2016,[6] American Mason Andrews in 2018,[7] Englishman Travis Ludlow in 2021[8] and British-Belgian Mack Rutherford in 2022.[9]

References
  1. "Youngest person to circumnavigate by aircraft, solo". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
  2. "Matt Guthmiller". YouTube.
  3. "Meet the Youngest Pilot to Fly Around the World Solo". Huffington Post Canada. March 16, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  4. "Limitless future awaits brilliant senior at Central High School". Aberdeen American News. March 24, 2013. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  5. Guthmiller, Matt [@mattguthmiller] (July 13, 2015). "Last year I flew around the world extolling computer science as a way to do big things. This time I'll be more direct quant.financial" (Tweet). Retrieved November 20, 2015 – via Twitter.
  6. "Youngest person to circumnavigate by aircraft, solo". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on September 4, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  7. "Youngest person to circumnavigate by aircraft, solo". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  8. "Youngest person to circumnavigate by aircraft, solo". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on August 18, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  9. Cassidy, Amy (August 24, 2022). "Teenage pilot becomes youngest person to fly solo around the globe". CNN. Archived from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  10. "MIT student finishes record flight around the world". Boston Globe. July 15, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  11. "Just 24, Guthmiller selected for SD Aviation Hall of Fame". Aberdeen News. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  12. "South Dakota Pilots Association". South Dakota Pilots Association. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
  13. "Callison: Aberdeen pilot, 19, flying around Earth". Argus Leader. June 2, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  14. "MIT Student To Become Youngest Person To Fly Around World Solo". Radio Boston. May 27, 2014. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  15. "About". Limitless Horizons.
  16. "Teen attempts record-setting solo flight around the world". CNN. June 1, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
  17. "Teen sets record as youngest pilot to circle the globe". CBS This Morning (Interview). August 9, 2014.
  18. "Presentation Schedule". Airventure Today. July 27, 2014.
  19. Guthmiller, Matt [@mattguthmiller] (June 16, 2015). "Come check out the Bonanza I flew around the world at the @AirAndSpace Udvar-Hazy Center this Saturday 10am-3pm!" (Tweet). Retrieved November 20, 2015 – via Twitter.
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