Silhouette challenge

[Lightning Mate]

Talking of high altitude:

[Ridge Runner]

Looks like the Tefal Mk.1

[Ridge Runner]

The photo quality says a yank to me!

[Lightning Mate]

Pre-Teflon and not a Yank.

[Ridge Runner]

but no a Brit, though, eh? I did wonder about a jap. The windscreen is neat in shape and that's why I though of an american. Ah well. I think we can be sure its not another ruskie though! Back to Google......

[Lightning Mate]

Not British either.

[Noyade]

Italian? Caproni Ca 113 or something like that...

[Lightning Mate]

Try some different numbers.....

[Ridge Runner]

Bu**er, that's wher I was going next! He could do with some fancy shades though......

[Noyade]

114 or how bout 161?

[Lightning Mate]

Good shooting Graeme.

The Ca-161 flown by Mario Pezzi, who achieved a world record of 55,920 feet, a record which still stands for a piston-engined aeroplane.

Take the floor.

[Noyade]

A second innings?! Crikey, I'll have to warm up the scanner...

[Noyade]

There...

[Lightning Mate]

How does it land?

Must be a glider, or a towed glide bomb.

[Noyade]

Dunno...retractable skid maybe?

Heavily modified production glider. Flew a very long way...long time in the air...

[Noyade]

9731 miles. 70.6 hours. Famous designer/pilot inside...

[Lightning Mate]

I presume it's a record holder then.

[Noyade]

Well, it was a record in 1969....(reading quickly).

[Lightning Mate]

Dunno.

Was the pilot also an astronaut?

Another though.

When you say

Heavily modified production glider

, was it pressurised?

[Noyade]

Gemini-Apollo sort of thing?...nope.
Might have been involved with that Virgin rocket thingy, you know, weightless for a few minutes for $250,000...

Designed a lot of unique looking homebuilts...two were jets I think.