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EL CAJON, Calif. — A 19-year-old man will try to become the youngest person to fly around the world.

Matt Guthmiller of South Dakota will be starting his journey at Gillespie Field in El Cajon later this week.

“In total it’s about 25 stops in 14 different countries,” said Guthmiller.

He will be aboard a 1981 Beechcraft A36 Bonanza customized by Mike Borden of High Performance Aircraft in El Cajon.

“We installed long range fuel tanks in his plane, satellite communications, satellite tracking,” said Borden. “If he has a mechanical problem while in route we can troubleshoot it from the air.”

“I’m not really nervous about any of the flying,” said Guthmiller. “But once I get an hour over the ocean for the first time and all I see is blue that may change.”

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology freshmen just finished his first year of electrical engineering and is excited about spending his summer trying to set a world record.

Guthmiller has 3 years and 500 hours of flying experience under his belt.

He said he’s loved planes since he was a little boy, but that’s not what drives him.

“A lot of people I talked to when I first started looking at this just thought I was crazy or that it wasn’t possible. So, I want to show people that no matter how old you are you can go out and do big things,” said Guthmiller.