A 23-year-old pilot took off Wednesday in a single-engine plane on the last leg of a trip to become what he says is the youngest person to fly around the world alone.

Barrington Irving left Orlando early Wednesday for the short flight to Opa-locka, the Miami area city he left March 23 in a Columbia 400 built of donated parts. He was optimistic his 27,000-mile, continent-hopping trip aboard the “Inspiration” would live up to the plane’s name and motivate young people.

He claims to be the youngest pilot and first black person to complete the journey alone, though it was unclear how those potential records would be validated.

The National Aeronautic Association, the aviation record-keeping authority in the U.S., does not track pilots’ age, sex or ethnicity, said Nathan Rohrbaugh, who helps coordinate records at the organization.

Continue reading at the Sun Sentinel