This listing of flight altitude records are the records set for the highest aeronautical flights conducted in the atmosphere, set since the age of ballooning.
Some, but not all of the records were certified by the non-profit international aviation organization, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). One reason for a lack of 'official' certification was that the flight occurred prior to the creation of the FAI.
For clarity, the "Fixed-wing aircraft" table is sorted by FAI-designated categories as determined by whether the record-creating aircraft left the ground by its own power (category "Altitude"), or whether it was first carried aloft by a carrier-aircraft prior to its record setting event (category "Altitude gain", or formally "Altitude Gain, Aeroplane Launched from a Carrier Aircraft"). Other sub-categories describe the airframe, and more importantly, the powerplant type (since rocket-powered aircraft can have greater altitude abilities than those with air-breathing engines).
An essential requirement for the creation of an "official" altitude record is the employment of FAI-certified observers present during the record-setting flight. Thus several records noted are unofficial due to the lack of such observers.
Video Flight altitude record
Balloons
- 1783-08-15: 24 m (79 ft); Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier of France, made the first ascent in a hot-air balloon.
- 1783-10-19: 81 m (266 ft); Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, in Paris.
- 1783-10-19: 105 m (344 ft); Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier with André Giroud de Villette, in Paris.
- 1783-11-21: 1,000 m (3,300 ft); Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier with Marquis d'Arlandes, in Paris.
- 1783-12-01: 2.7 km (8,900 ft); Jacques Alexandre Charles and his assistant Marie-Noël Robert, both of France, made the first flight in a hydrogen balloon to about 610 m. Charles then ascended alone to the record altitude.
- 1784: 4 km (13,000 ft) Pilâtre de Rozier and the chemist Joseph Proust in a Montgolfier.
- 1803-07-18: 7.28 km (23,900 ft) Étienne-Gaspard Robert and Auguste Lhoëst in a balloon.
- 1839: 7.9 km (26,000 ft) Charles Green and Spencer Rush in a free balloon.
- 1862-09-05: about 11.887 km (39,000 ft)-Henry Coxwell and James Glaisher in a balloon filled with coal gas. Glaisher lost consciousness during the ascent due to the low air pressure and cold temperature of -11 °C (12 °F).
- 1901-07-31: 10.800 km (35,430 ft)-Arthur Berson and Reinhard Süring in the hydrogen balloon Preußen, in an open basket and with oxygen in steel cylinders. This flight contributed to the discovery of the stratosphere.
- 1927-11-04: 13.222 km (43,380 ft)-Captain Hawthorne C. Gray, of the U.S. Army Air Corps, in a helium balloon. Capt. Gray was killed when his oxygen supply ran out.
- 1931-05-27: 15.787 km (51,790 ft) - Auguste Piccard & Paul Kipfer in a hydrogen balloon.
- 1932: 16.2 km (53,000 ft) -Auguste Piccard and Max Cosyns in a hydrogen balloon.
- 1933-09-30: 18.501 km (60,700 ft) USSR balloon USSR-1.
- 1933-11-20: 18.592 km (61,000 ft) Lt. Comdr. Thomas G. W. Settle (USN) and Maj Chester L. Fordney (USMC) in Century of Progress balloon
- 1934-01-30: 21.946 km (72,000 ft) USSR balloon Osoaviakhim-1. The three crew were killed when the balloon broke up during the descent.
- 1935-11-10: 22.066 km (72,400 ft) Captain O. A. Anderson and Captain A. W. Stevens (U.S. Army Air Corps) ascended in the Explorer II gondola from the Stratobowl, near Rapid City, South Dakota, for a flight that lasted 8 hours 13 minutes and covered 362 kilometres (225 mi).
- 1956-11-08: 23.165 km (76,000 ft) Malcolm D. Ross and M. L. Lewis (U.S. Navy) in Office of Naval Research Strato-Lab I, using a pressurized gondola and plastic balloon launching near Rapid City, South Dakota, and landing 282 km (175 mi) away near Kennedy, Nebraska.
- 1957-06-02: 29.4997 km (96,784 ft) Captain Joseph W. Kittinger (U.S. Air Force) ascended in the Project Manhigh 1 gondola to a record-breaking altitude.
- 1957-08-19: 31.212 km (102,400 ft) above sea level, Major David Simons (U.S. Air Force) ascended from the Portsmouth Mine near Crosby, Minnesota in the Manhigh 2 gondola for a 32-hour record-breaking flight. Simons landed at 5:32 p.m. on 20 August in northeastern South Dakota.
- 1960-08-16: In testing a high-altitude parachute system, Joseph Kittinger of the U.S. Air Force parachuted from the Excelsior III balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 ft (31,300 m). He set world records for: high-altitude jump; freefall diving by falling 16 mi (26 km) before opening his parachute; and fastest speed achieved by a human without motorized assistance, 614 mph (988 km/h).
- 1961-05-04: 34.668 km (113,740 ft); Commander Malcolm D. Ross and Lieutenant Commander Victor A. Prather, Jr., of the U.S. Navy ascended in the Strato-Lab V, in an unpressurized gondola. After descending, the gondola containing the two balloonists landed in the Gulf of Mexico. Prather slipped off the rescue helicopter's hook into the gulf and drowned.
- 1966-02-02: The amateur parachutist Nicholas Piantanida of the United States reached 123,800 feet (37,700 m) with his "Strato Jump II" balloon, but because of his being unable to disconnect his oxygen line from the main capsule's feed he had to detach the balloon from the capsule, abandon his planned parachute jump, and return to the ground in the capsule without the balloon. Because of the design of his glove, he was unable to reattach his safety harness. He endured very great g-forces, but he survived the descent. Piantanida's ascent is not recognized by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale as a balloon altitude world record because he did not return with his balloon.
- 2012-10-14: Felix Baumgartner in the Red Bull Stratos reached 38,969 metres (127,851 ft) in a balloon flight that started near Roswell, New Mexico, and he returned to earth via a record-setting parachute jump.
- 2014-10-24: Alan Eustace, a senior vice president at the Google corporation, reached 41,424 metres (135,906 ft) in a helium balloon and then returned to earth via parachute jump.
Hot-air balloons
On November 26, 2005, Vijaypat Singhania set the world altitude record for highest hot-air-balloon flight, reaching 21,290 m (69,850 ft). He launched from downtown Bombay, India, and landed 240 km (150 mi) south in Panchale. The previous record of 19,811 m (64,997 ft) had been set by Per Lindstrand on June 6, 1988 in Plano, Texas.
Unmanned gas balloon
During 1893 French scientist Jules Richard constructed sounding balloons. These unmanned balloons, carrying light, but very precise instruments, approached an altitude of 50,000 feet (15,240 meters).
The U.S. (and for a while, the world) altitude record for unmanned balloons was 51.8 km (170,000 ft) (according to a 1991 edition of Guinness Book of World Records). The vehicle was a Winzen-Balloon with a volume of 1.35 million cubic metres, launched in October 1972 in Chico, California, USA.
During 2002 an ultra-thin-film balloon named BU60-1 made of polyethylene film 3.4 µm thick with a volume of 60,000 m³ was launched from Sanriku Balloon Center at Ofunato City, Iwate in Japan at 6:35 on May 23, 2002. The balloon ascended at a speed of 260 m per minute and successfully reached the altitude of 53.0 km (173,900 ft), breaking the previous world record set during 1972.
Maps Flight altitude record
Gliders
The highest altitude obtained by a soaring aircraft is 52,172 ft (15,902 m) on September 3, 2017 by Jim Payne (pilot) and Morgan Sandercock (co-pilot) in the Perlan 2, a special built high altitude research glider. This record was achieved over El Calafate (Argentina) and set as part of the Perlan Project.
This surpassed the previous record of 15,460 m (50,720 ft) on 30 August 2006 by Steve Fossett (pilot) and Einar Enevoldson (co-pilot) in their high performance research glider Perlan 1, a modified DG-500. This record was also achieved over El Calafate (Argentina) and set as part of the Perlan Project.
The previous record was 49,009 ft (14,938 m) on February 17, 1986 by Robert Harris using lee waves over California City, USA.
Fixed-wing aircraft
Piston-driven propeller aeroplane
The highest altitude obtained by a piston-driven propeller UAV (without payload) is 67,028 feet (20,430 m). It was obtained during 1988-1989 by the Boeing Condor UAV.
The highest altitude obtained in a piston-driven propeller biplane (without a payload) was 17,083 m (56,047 ft) on October 22, 1938 by Mario Pezzi at Montecelio, Italy in a Caproni Ca.161 driven by a Piaggio XI R.C. engine.
The highest altitude obtained in a piston-driven propeller monoplane (without a payload) was 18,552 m (60,866 ft) on August 4, 1995 by the Grob Strato 2C driven by two Teledyne Continental TSIO-550 engines.
Jet aircraft
The highest current world absolute general aviation altitude record propelled aircraft is 37,650 metres (123,520 ft) set by Aleksandr Vasilyevich Fedotov, in a Mikoyan Gurevitch E-266M (MiG-25M), on 31 August 1977.
Rocket plane
The highest altitude obtained by a manned aeroplane (launched from another aircraft) is 112,010 m (367,487 ft) by Brian Binnie in the Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne (powered by a Scaled Composite SD-010 engine with 18,000 pounds (8,200 kg) of thrust) on 4 October 2004 at Mojave, CA. The SpaceShipOne was launched at over 43,500 ft (13.3 km). The previous (unofficial) record was 107,960 m (354,199 ft) set by Joseph A. Walker in a North American X-15 in mission X-15 Flight 91 on August 22, 1963. Walker had reached 106 km - crossing the Kármán line the first time - with X-15 Flight 90 the previous month.
The highest altitude obtained by a rocket-powered aircraft (self-launched--i.e. not launched from another aircraft) was 24,217 m (79,452 ft) on May 2, 1958 by Roger Carpentier over Istres, France in a Sud-Ouest Trident II mixed power (turbojet & rocket engine) aircraft.
Electrically powered aircraft
The highest altitude obtained by an electrically powered aircraft is 96,863 feet (29,524 m) on August 14, 2001 by the NASA Helios, and is the highest altitude in horizontal flight by a winged aircraft. This is also the altitude record for propeller driven aircraft, FAI class U (Experimental / New Technologies), and FAI class U-1.d (Remotely controlled UAV : Weight 500 kg to less than 2500 kg).
Rotorcraft
On June 21, 1972, Jean Boulet of France piloted an Aérospatiale SA 315B Lama helicopter to an absolute altitude record of 40,814 feet (12,440 m). At that extreme altitude, the engine flamed out and Boulet had to land the helicopter by breaking another record: the longest successful autorotation in history. The helicopter was stripped of all unnecessary equipment prior to the flight to minimize weight, and the pilot breathed supplemental oxygen.
Paper airplanes
The highest altitude obtained by a paper plane is currently for the Paper Aircraft Released Into Space (PARIS) project, which was released at an altitude of 27,307 metres (89,590 ft), from a helium balloon that was launched approximately 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Madrid, Spain on 28 October 2010, and recorded by The Register's "special projects bureau". The project achieved a Guinness world record recognition.
Cannon rounds
The current world-record for highest cannon projectile flight is held by Project HARP's 16-inch space gun prototype, which fired a 180 kg Martlet 2 projectile to record height of 180 km (590,550 ft; 110 mi) in Yuma, Arizona, on November 18th, 1966. The projectile's trajectory briefly sent it into space, making it the first cannon-fired projectile to exit the atmosphere.
The Paris Gun (German: Paris-Geschütz) was a German long-range siege gun used to bombard Paris during World War I. It was in service from March-August 1918. Its 106-kilogram shells had a range of about 130 km (80 mi) with a maximum altitude of about 42.3 km (26.3 mi).
See also
- Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
- High-altitude balloon
- High-altitude platform station
Notes
References
Bibliography
- Andrews, C.F. and E.B. Morgan. Vickers Aircraft since 1908. London:Putnam, 1988. ISBN 0-85177-815-1.
- Angelucci, Enzo and Peter M. Bowers. The American Fighter. Sparkford, UK:Haynes Publishing Group, 1987. ISBN 0-85429-635-2.
- Bridgman, Leonard. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1951-52. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd, 1951.
- "Eighteen Years of World's Records". Flight, 7 February 1924, pp. 73-75.
- Lewis, Peter. British Racing and Record-Breaking Aircraft. London:Putnam, 1971. ISBN 0-370-00067-6.
- Owers, Colin. "Stop-Gap Fighter:The LUSAC Series". Air Enthusiast, Fifty, May to July 1993. Stamford, UK:Key Publishing. ISSN 0143-5450. pp. 49-51.
- Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1965-66. London:Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1965.
- "The Royal Aero Club of the U.K.: Official Notices to Members". Flight 16 December 1920.
External links
- Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Official website -the international, non-profit, non-government organization that tracks aircraft world records
- Balloon World Records Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
- Excelsior III Details of Kittingers' Jump from a stratospheric balloon in 1960
- Iowa State University - High Altitude Balloon Experiments in Technology
- Eng, Cassandra (1997). "Altitude of the Highest Manned Balloon Flight". The Physics Factbook.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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