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Wyoming pilot Matt Guthmiller and Mexican comedian Juanpa Zurita are featured in the Disney+ comedy series \u201cThe Worst Flight Around The World.\u201d (Courtesy Matt Guthmiller)An Impressive Aviation Background<\/p>\nA Wyoming pilot who was the youngest person to fly solo around the world when he did it in 2014 \u2014 and owns his own fighter jet \u2014 can add another skill to his resume: co-starring in a zany comedy series about an ill-conceived\u00a0global misadventure.<\/p>\n
The Disney+ series \u201cThe Worst Flight Around The World\u201d stars Matt Guthmiller of Alpine and Mexican comedian\u00a0Juanpa Zurita premiered Nov. 7.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s\u00a0marketed primarily through the Disney+ Latin American division and is in Spanish with English subtitles available.<\/p>\n
Guthmiller told Cowboy State Daily that the language barrier helps fuel the comedy in some segments because \u201cI don\u2019t speak any Spanish.\u201d<\/p>\n
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?<\/p>\n
He said the show could be likened to the classic comedy \u201cThe Odd Couple,\u201d which was about a pair of terribly mismatched roommates.<\/p>\n
In this airborne scenario, Guthmiller\u00a0plays the straight man, or the calmer, level-headed one, against Zurita\u2019s goofy antics.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very different personalities. I\u2019m relaxed, down to business. And he\u2019s full of energy, bouncing off the walls,\u201d Guthmiller said.<\/p>\n
The basic premise is that Zurita recruits Guthmiller as his pilot, and then gets in over his head, according to the show\u2019s description.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving no clue about what traveling around the world entails, Juanpa Zurita convinces Disney+ that he can do it with just a small, single-engine plane together with the legendary pilot who broke the record for being the youngest person to have ever made it: Matt Guthmiller,\u201d the description states.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlying around the planet, traveling to eight destinations across four continents with eight guests who happen to be celebrities\u2014so he can keep his promise to Disney\u2014it was inevitable that this would end up being a complete disaster,\u201d according to Disney+.<\/p>\n
Wyoming pilot Matt Guthmiller and Mexican comedian Juanpa Zurita are featured in the Disney+ comedy series \u201cThe Worst Flight Around The World.\u201d (Courtesy Matt Guthmiller)An Impressive Aviation Background<\/p>\n
Guthmiller has an impressive background in aviation and technology.<\/p>\n
He lives at the airfield in Alpine, where he keeps his own military jet trainer, an Eastern Bloc 1976 Aero L-39 Albatros decommissioned from the Estonian Air Force.<\/p>\n
He had his first solo flight in 2011 in a two-seat 1975 Cessna 150, which fueled an already burning passion for flying. He started his flying lessons at age 16, got his private pilot\u2019s license on his 17th birthday and has gone on to earn an airline transport certificate.<\/p>\n
In 2014 at age 19, he became the youngest person ever to circumnavigate the globe solo in an aircraft. His 44-day, 30,000-mile odyssey took him to New York City, London, Greece, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Hawaii.<\/p>\n
That record has since been broken, most recently last year by 17-year-old British-Belgian national Mack Rutherford.<\/p>\n
Guthmiller was still in public school when he developed one of the first iPhone unlocking services in 2007 before selling it to another company.<\/p>\n
And as a high school senior, he was a finalist for the 20 Under 20 Thiel Fellowship award before dropping out of the running to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned degrees in electrical engineering and computer science.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s currently working on\u00a0a\u00a0cutting-edge aviation route-planning app for pilots.<\/p>\n
![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Guthmiller-poster-11.16.25.jpg\")
This is a poster for the Disney+ Latin America comedy series (translated to English) \u201cThe Worst Flight Around The World\u201d. It features Wyoming pilot Matt Guthmiller and Mexican comedian Juanpa Zurita. (Courtesy Matt Guthmiller)Call Comes In From Disney<\/p>\n
Guthmiller has a popular aviation-themed YouTube channel.<\/p>\n
He said\u00a0the channel caught the eye of Disney+ producers, who first reached out to him in 2020 about doing a show.<\/p>\n
It was initially supposed to be more of a serious \u201cdocumentary\u201d about circling the globe in small aircraft and visiting various spots along the way, he said.<\/p>\n
Production was set back by Covid, and the development phase went on for a few more years.<\/p>\n
Eventually, the premise morphed from a documentary to a comedy series, with Zurita attached as the co-star.<\/p>\n
Guthmiller said he wasn\u2019t certain \u201cuntil almost the last minute\u201d whether the show would go into production.<\/p>\n
When he got the call, he realized he hadn\u2019t had\u00a0several vaccinations that he\u2019d need to travel to various parts of the world with exotic diseases.<\/p>\n
So he went to a clinic and got all of his shots at once.<\/p>\n
Luckily, the only side effect he\u00a0got was \u201cmy arm being sore for a few days,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Disney+ provided the aircraft, a single-engine prop-driven TBM 850.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s big enough for a \u201ccouple of extra passengers\u201d and the film crew, he said.<\/p>\n
But it\u2019s still small enough to set the stage for \u201cflying around the world in a small plane, with people who have never been in a small plane,\u201d Guthmiller said.<\/p>\n
![\"Wyoming](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Guthmiller-premire-11.16.25.jpg\")
Wyoming pilot Matt Guthmiller, his fianc\u00e9e Leah Pagnozzi and their daughter Emmeline, appear with Matt\u2019s co-star, comedian Juanpa Zurita, at the premiere of the Disney+ series \u201cThe Worst Flight Around The World\u201d in Mexico City. (Courtesy Matt Guthmiller)Not Sure What To Expect<\/p>\n
Filming took place over about six months last year. There were breaks in production during which he and other cast and crew members would \u201cairline back home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Guthmiller said he wasn\u2019t sure what to expect going in but said that he quickly\u00a0became comfortable working with his co-star and guests.<\/p>\n
Most of the material\u00a0was genuine and as it happened, with him and Zurita just naturally playing off one another, he said.<\/p>\n
He said his comedic chops came naturally.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like to think I\u2019m kind of funny. But If you had told me five years ago that I was going to be making a comedy for\u00a0Disney+, I\u2019d have laughed at you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
There were some instances where \u201cthe camera guy didn\u2019t quite get something, so now you\u2019ve got to kind of act a bit to get it again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The shooting schedule allowed Guthmiller the opportunity to set a new record-setting run from Japan to Alaska, for the class of aircraft he was piloting.<\/p>\n
The average speed was 422.7 kilometers per hour (roughly 263 miles per hour).<\/p>\n
There were also shorter flights, to specific destinations in some of the countries they visited, such as Vietnam.<\/p>\n
That required knowing the differences in various\u00a0nations\u2019\u00a0flight regulations, Guthmiller said.<\/p>\n
He\u2019d Do It Again<\/p>\n
Now that the show has wrapped up and is on the air, Guthmiller said he\u2019s kept the lines of communication open with\u00a0Disney+.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it would be fun to do it again,\u201d if the show producers decide to continue, he said.<\/p>\n
He added that the show does have a twist to it but declined to give it away.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to spoil anything, but the show doesn\u2019t end quite the way that you\u2019d expect,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Contact Mark Heinz at mark@cowboystatedaily.com<\/p>\n
![\"Matt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Matt-Guthmiller-3-2.17.23.jpg\")
Matt Guthmiller lives at the airfield in Alpine, Wyoming, where he keeps his own military jet trainer, an Eastern Bloc 1976 Aero L-39 Albatros decommissioned from the Estonian Air Force. (Courtesy Matt Guthmiller)<\/p>\n