mary meagher
28th Oct 2013, 08:49
The New York Times is getting all excited about the Perlan Project. The prototype glider is already being built in Bend, Oregon, and two glider pilots are planning to fly to 90,000. World looks different from up there....
I believe the current record for a glider is about 48,000 over the Sierra Nevada in the US....
Localiser
28th Oct 2013, 09:13
Wow, that would be impressive.
I did think that the world altitude record in a glider was marginally higher so had to cheat and look it up.....
The highest altitude obtained in an unpowered aircraft is 50,671 ft (15,445 m) on 30 August 2006 by Steve Fossett (pilot) and Einar Enevoldson (co-pilot) in their high performance research glider, a modified DG-500, breaking the previous record by 1,662 ft (507 m).[5] This record was set as part of the Perlan Project.[6] The previous record was 49,009 ft (14,938 m) on February 17, 1986 by Robert Harris in lee waves over California City, USA.[5]
Jetblu
28th Oct 2013, 14:45
The link is here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/22/science/quiet-trip-to-the-ozone-hole.html?_r=1&