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Flight altitude record

Last updated: 2025-07-25 23:27:24

Flight altitude record

Explorer II gondola, 1935

This listing of flight altitude records are the records set for the highest aeronautical flights conducted in the atmosphere and beyond, 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.[1]

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).[1]

An essential requirement for the creation of an "official" altitude record is the employment of FAI-certified observers present during the record-setting flight.[1] Thus several records noted are unofficial due to the lack of such observers.

Balloons

In 1931, Auguste Piccard and Paul Kipfer (photo) reached a record altitude of 15,781 m. In 1932, Auguste Piccard and Max Cosyns made a second record-breaking ascent to 16,201 m. Auguste Piccard ultimately made a total of twenty-seven balloon flights, setting a final record of 23,000 m [citation needed].
  • 1783-08-15: 24 m (79 ft); Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier of France, 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 (2,000 ft). Charles then ascended alone to the record altitude.
  • 1784-06-23: 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 29,500 ft (9,000 m); Henry Coxwell and James Glaisher in a balloon filled with coal gas.[2] Glaisher lost consciousness during the ascent due to the low air pressure and cold temperature of −11 °C (12 °F).
  • 1901-07-31: 10.8 km (35,000 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)[citation needed]; Captain Hawthorne C. Gray, of the U.S. Army Air Corps, in a helium balloon. Gray lost consciousness after his oxygen supply ran out and was killed in the crash.
  • 1931-05-27: 15.781 km (51,770 ft); Auguste Piccard and Paul Kipfer in a hydrogen balloon.
  • 1932: 16.201 km (53,150 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 August 20 in northeastern South Dakota.
  • 1960-08-16: 31.333 km (102,800 ft); 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 26 km (16 mi) before opening his parachute; and fastest speed achieved by a human without motorized assistance, 988 km/h (614 mph).[3]
  • 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.[a]
  • 1966-02-02: 37.6 km (123,000 ft); Amateur parachutist Nicholas Piantanida of the United States with his "Project Strato-Jump" II balloon. Because he was unable to disconnect his oxygen line from the gondola's main feed, the ground crew had to remotely detach the balloon from the gondola. His planned free fall and parachute jump was abandoned, and he returned to the ground in the gondola. Nick was unable to accomplish his desired free fall record, however his spectacular flight set other records that held up for 46 years. Because of the design of his glove, he was unable to reattach his safety seat belt harness. He endured very high g-forces, but 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, although that was not the feat he was trying to accomplish. On this second attempt of "Project Strato-Jump", Nick Piantanida took with him 250 postmarked air-mail envelopes and letters. At the time, these letters were the first covers to have ever been delivered by the U.S. Post Office via space. The habit of taking cover letters to space continued with the Apollo Program; in 1972 there was a scandal involving the Apollo 15 astronauts. It is unclear if any of the "Project Strato-Jump" covers survived, and were eventually mailed to the intended recipients.
  • 2012-10-14: 38.969 km (127,850 ft); Felix Baumgartner in the Red Bull Stratos balloon. The flight started near Roswell, New Mexico, and returned to earth via a record-setting parachute jump.
  • 2014-10-24: 41.424 kilometres (135,910 ft); Alan Eustace, a senior vice president at the Google corporation, in a helium balloon, returning to earth via parachute jump during the StratEx mission executed by Paragon Space Development Corporation.[5][6]

Hot-air balloons

Year Date Altitude Person Aircraft Notes
imperial metric
1783October 15 84 ft26 m Pilâtre de RozierMontgolfiertethered balloon
1988June 6 64,996 ft19,811 m Per LindstrandColt 600In Laredo, Texas.[7]
2004December 13 21,699 ft6,614 m David Hempleman-AdamsBoland Rover A-2Fédération Aéronautique Internationale record for hot air balloon as of 2007
2005November 26 68,986 ft21,027 m Vijaypat SinghaniaCameron Z-1600Vijaypat Singhania set the world altitude record for hot-air-balloon flight, reaching 21,027 m (68,986 ft). He launched from downtown Mumbai, India, and landed 240 km (150 mi) south in Panchale.

Uncrewed gas balloon

During 1893 French scientist Jules Richard constructed sounding balloons. These uncrewed balloons, carrying light, but very precise instruments, approached an altitude of 15.24 km (50,000 ft).[8]

A Winzen balloon launched from Chico, California, in 1972 set the uncrewed altitude record of 51.8 km (170,000 ft). Its volume was 1,350,000 m3 (47,800,000 cu ft).[9]

On September 20, 2013, JAXA launched an ultrathin film balloon called BS13-08 made of 2.8 μm thick polyethylene film with a volume of 80,000 m3 (2,800,000 cu ft), which was 60 m (200 ft) in diameter. The balloon rose at a speed of 250 metres per minute (820 ft/min) and reached an altitude of 53.7 km (176,000 ft), surpassing the previous world record set in 2002.[10]

This was the greatest height a flying object reached without using rockets or a launch with a cannon.

Gliders

On February 17, 1986, the highest altitude obtained by a soaring aircraft was set at 14.938 km (49,009 ft) by Robert Harris using lee waves over California City, United States.[11] The flight was accomplished using the Grob 102 Standard Astir III.[12]

This was surpassed at 15.46 km (50,720 ft) set on August 30, 2006, by Steve Fossett (pilot) and Einar Enevoldson (co-pilot) in their high performance research glider Perlan 1, a modified Glaser-Dirks DG-500.[11] This record was achieved over El Calafate (Patagonia, Argentina) and set as part of the Perlan Project.[13]

This was raised at 15.902 km (52,172 ft) on September 3, 2017[14] by Jim Payne (pilot) and Morgan Sandercock (co-pilot) in the Perlan 2,[15] a special built high altitude research glider. This record was again achieved over El Calafate and as part of the Perlan Project.[13]

On September 2, 2018, within the Airbus Perlan Mission II, again from El Calafate, the Perlan II piloted by Jim Payne and Tim Gardner reached 23.203 km (76,124 ft), surpassing the 22.475 km (73,737 ft) attained by Jerry Hoyt on April 17, 1989, in a Lockheed U-2: the highest subsonic flight.[16]

Fixed-wing aircraft

Year Date Altitude Person Aircraft Propulsion Notes
Imperial Metric
1890October 8 8 in 0.2 m Clément AderÉolepropellerUncontrolled hop
1903December 17 10 ft 3 m Wilbur Wright, Orville WrightWright FlyerpropellerPhotographed and witnessed unofficially.
1906October 23 10 ft3 m Alberto Santos-Dumont14-bispropellerFirst officially witnessed and certified flight.
1906November 12 13 ft4 m Alberto Santos-Dumont14-bispropeller
1908December 18 360 ft110 m Wilbur WrightBiplanepropellerat Auvers[citation needed]
1909July 18 492 ft150 m Louis PaulhanFarmanpropellerConcours d’Aviation, La Brayelle, Douai[17]
1909 3,018 ft920 m Louis PaulhanFarmanpropellerLyon
1910January 9 4,164 ft1,269 m Louis PaulhanFarmanpropellerLos Angeles Air Meet[18]
1910June 17 4,603 ft1,403 m Walter BrookinsWright biplanepropeller[19]
1910August 11 6,621 ft2,018 m John Armstrong DrexelBlériot monoplanepropellerLanark Aviation Meeting[20]
1910October 30 8,471 ft2,582 m Ralph JohnstoneWright biplanepropellerInternational Aviation Tournament was at the Belmont Park race track in Elmont, New York[21]
1910December 26 11,474 ft3,497 m Archibald HoxseyWright Model BpropellerSecond International Aviation Meet held in 1910 at Dominguez Field, Los Angeles.[22] Hoxsey died in a plane crash five days later while trying to set a new record.[23]
1912September 11 18,410 ft5,610 m Roland GarrosBlériot monoplane[citation needed]propellerSaint-Brieuc (France) [24]
1915January 5 11,950 ft3,640 m Joseph Eugene CarberryCurtiss Model Epropeller[25]
1916November 9 26,083 ft7,950 m Guido GuidiCaudron G.4propellerTorino Mirafiori airfield[26]
1919June 14 31,230 ft9,520 m Jean Casale Nieuport NiD.29 propeller [27][28]
1920February 27 33,113 ft10,093 m Major Rudolf SchroederLUSAC-11 propeller[29][30]
1921September 18 34,508 ft10,518 m Lt. John Arthur MacreadyLUSAC-11propeller[31]
1923September 5 35,240 ft10,740 m Joseph Sadi-Lecointe Nieuport NiD.40R propeller [32][33]
1923October 30 36,565 ft11,145 m Joseph Sadi-Lecointe Nieuport NiD.40R propeller [33][34]
1924October 21 39,587 ft12,066 m Jean Callizo Gourdou-Leseurre 40 C.1 propeller [35] Callizo later claimed several higher records, but these were stripped from him, as he had falsified barograph readings.[36][37]
1928 December 7 20,269 ft 6,178 m Louise Thaden Travel Air 3000 propeller Woman's altitude record[38]
1930June 4 43,168 ft13,158 m Lt. Apollo Soucek, USN Wright Apache propeller [39]
1932September 16 43,976 ft13,404 m Cyril Uwins Vickers Vespa propeller [40]
1933September 28 44,819 ft13,661 m Gustave Lemoine Potez 506 propeller [41]
1934April 11 47,354 ft14,433 m Renato Donati Caproni Ca.113 AQ propeller [42][43]
1936August 14 48,698 ft14,843 m Georges Détré Potez 506 propeller highest with no pressure suit[44]
1936September 28 49,967 ft15,230 m Squadron Leader Francis Ronald Swain Bristol Type 138 propeller [45]
1938June 30 53,937 ft16,440 m M. J. Adam Bristol Type 138 propeller [45]
1938October 22 56,850 ft17,330 m Lt. Colonel Mario Pezzi Caproni Ca.161 propeller current crewed, propeller-driven, biplane record[46]
1948March 23 59,430 ft18,114 m John Cunningham de Havilland Vampire turbojet Modified Vampire F.1 with extended wingtips and a de Havilland Ghost jet engine.[47][48]
1949August 8 71,902 ft21,916 m Brigadier General Frank Kendall Everest Jr. Bell X-1 air-launched rocket plane Unofficial record.[49]
1951August 15 79,494 ft24,230 m Bill Bridgeman Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket air-launched rocket plane Unofficial record. Powered by the XLR11 liquid fuel rocket engine (designated as XLR8-RM-5).
1953May 4 63,668 ft19,406 m Walter Gibb English Electric Canberra B.2 turbojet propelled by two Rolls-Royce Olympus engines.[50]
1953August 21 83,235 ft25,370 m Lt. Col. Marion Carl Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket air-launched rocket plane Unofficial record. Powered by the XLR11 liquid fuel rocket engine (designated as XLR8-RM-5).
1954May 28 90,440 ft27,570 m Arthur W. Murray Bell X-1A air-launched rocket plane Unofficial record. Powered by the XLR11 liquid fuel rocket engine.[51]
1955August 29 65,876 ft20,079 m Walter Gibb English Electric Canberra B.2 turbojet Olympus powered.[52]
1956September 7 126,283 ft38,491 m Iven Kincheloe Bell X-2 air-launched rocket plane [53]
1957August 28 70,310 ft21,430 m Mike RandrupEnglish Electric Canberra WK163turbojet & rocketWith Napier "Double Scorpion" rocket motor
1958April 18 76,939 ft23,451 m Lt. Commander George C. Watkins, USNGrumman F11F-1F Super Tigerturbojet[54]
1958May 2 79,452 ft24,217 m Roger CarpentierSNCASO Trident IIturbojet & rocket
1958May 7 91,243 ft27,811 m Major Howard C. JohnsonLockheed F-104 StarfighterturbojetThis F-104 became the first aircraft to simultaneously hold the world speed, rate of climb and altitude records when on May 16, 1958, U.S. Air Force Capt. Walter W. Irwin set a world speed record of 1,404.19 mph
1959September 4 94,658 ft28,852 m Vladimir IlyushinSukhoi Su-9turbojet
1959December 6 98,557 ft30,040 m Commander Lawrence E. Flint, Jr.McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIturbojet
1959December 14 103,389 ft31,513 m Capt "Joe" B. JordanLockheed F-104 StarfighterturbojetGeneral Electric J79
1961March 30 169,600 ft51,700 m Joseph Albert WalkerX-15air-launched rocket planeFirst human to reach the mesosphere. Last world altitude record before Yuri Gagarin's orbital flight Vostok 1.[55]
1961April 28 113,891 ft34,714 m Georgy MosolovYe-66A Mig-21turbojet & rocketR-11
1962July 17 314,700 ft95,900 m Robert Michael WhiteX-15air-launched rocket planeNot a C-1 FAI record[55]
1963July 19 347,400 ft105,900 m Joseph Albert WalkerX-15air-launched rocket planeNot a C-1 FAI record.[55]
1963August 22 353,200 ft107,700 m Joseph Albert WalkerX-15air-launched rocket planeNot a C-1 FAI record[55]
1963October 22 118,860 ft36,230 m Major Robert W. SmithLockheed NF-104Aturbojet & rocketUnofficial altitude record for an aircraft with self-powered takeoff.
1963December 6 120,800 ft36,800 m Major Robert W. SmithLockheed NF-104Aturbojet & rocketUnofficial altitude record for an aircraft with self-powered takeoff.
1973July 25 118,898 ft36,240 m Aleksandr FedotovMikoyan-Gurevich Ye-266 MiG-25turbojetUnder Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) classification the Ye-155 type
1976July 2885,069 ft25,929 m Captain Robert HeltLockheed SR-71 BlackbirdturbojetAbsolute record for altitude in horizontal flight.[56] Pratt & Whitney J58; Absolute Record of FAI classes C, H and M[57] Another SR-71 set absolute speed record on the same day.
1977August 31 123,520 ft37,650 m Aleksandr FedotovMikoyan-Gurevich Ye-266M MiG-25turbojetUnder Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) classification the Ye-155 type
1995August 4 60,897 ft18,561 m 2 pilots: Einar Enevoldson and other, and two scientists[58] Grob Strato 2C propeller crewed propeller monoplane record to date
2001August 14 96,863 ft29,524 m UncrewedNASA Helios HP01propellerSet altitude records for propeller driven aircraft, solar-electric aircraft, and highest altitude in horizontal flight by a winged aircraft.
2004October 4 367,490 ft112,010 m Brian BinnieSpaceShipOneair-launched rocket planeIn addition to the altitude record, this flight also set records for greatest mass lifted to altitude and minimum time between two consecutive flights in a reusable vehicle.[59]

Piston-driven propeller aeroplane

The highest altitude obtained by a piston-driven propeller UAV (without payload) is 20.430 kilometres (67,028 ft). It was obtained during 1988–1989 by the Boeing Condor UAV.[60]

The highest altitude obtained in a piston-driven propeller biplane (without a payload) was 17.083 km (56,050 ft) on October 22, 1938, by Mario Pezzi at Montecelio, Italy in a Caproni Ca.161 driven by a Piaggio XI R.C. engine.[61]

The highest altitude obtained in a piston-driven propeller monoplane (without a payload) was 18.552 km (60,870 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 for air breathing jet-propelled aircraft is 37.650 kilometres (123,520 ft) set by Aleksandr Vasilyevich Fedotov in a Mikoyan-Gurevich E-266M (MiG-25M) on August 31, 1977.[62][63]

Rocket plane

The record for highest altitude obtained by a crewed rocket-powered aircraft is the US Space Shuttle (STS) which regularly reached altitudes of more than 500 kilometres (310 mi) on servicing missions to the Hubble Space Telescope.

The highest altitude obtained by a crewed aeroplane (launched from another aircraft) is 112.010 km (367,490 ft) by Brian Binnie in the Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne (powered by a Scaled Composite SD-010 engine with 80,000 newtons (18,000 lbf) of thrust) on October 4, 2004, at Mojave, California. The SpaceShipOne was launched at over 13.3 km (44,000 ft).[59]

The previous (unofficial) record was 107.960 km (354,200 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.

During the X-15 program, 8 pilots flew a combined 13 flights which met the Air Force spaceflight criterion by exceeding the altitude of 80 kilometres (50 mi), qualifying these pilots as being astronauts; of those 13 flights, two (flown by the same civilian pilot) met the FAI definition of outer space: 100 kilometres (62 mi).[64]

Mixed power

The official record for a mixed power aircraft was achieved on May 2, 1958, by Roger Carpentier when he reached 24.217 km (79,450 ft) over Istres, France in a Sud-Ouest Trident II mixed power (turbojet & rocket engine) aircraft.[65]

The unofficial altitude record for mixed-power-aircraft with self-powered takeoff was 36.8 km (120,800 ft) on December 6, 1963, by Major Robert W. Smith in a Lockheed NF-104A mixed power (turbojet and rocket engine) aircraft.[66]

Electrically powered aircraft

The highest altitude obtained by an electrically powered aircraft is 29.524 kilometres (96,863 ft) 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 to 2,500 kg (1,100 to 5,500 lb)).[67]

Rotorcraft

On June 21, 1972, Jean Boulet of France piloted an Aérospatiale SA 315B Lama helicopter to an absolute altitude record of 12.440 kilometres (40,814 ft).[68] 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.[69] 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 was previously held by the Paper Aircraft Released Into Space (PARIS) project, which was released at an altitude of 27.307 kilometres (89,590 ft), from a helium balloon that was launched approximately 160 kilometres (99 mi) west of Madrid, Spain on October 28, 2010, and recorded by The Register's "special projects bureau". The project achieved a Guinness world record recognition.[70][71]

This record was broken on 24 June 2015 in Cambridgeshire, UK by the Space Club of Kesgrave High School, Suffolk, as part of their Stratos III project. The paper plane was launched from a balloon at 35.043 kilometres (114,970 ft).[72][73]

Cannon rounds

The current world-record for highest cannon projectile flight is held by Project HARP’s 410 mm (16 in) space gun prototype, which fired a 180 kg (400 lb) Martlet 2 projectile to a record height of 180 kilometres (590,000 ft; 110 mi) in Yuma, Arizona, on November 18, 1966. The projectile’s trajectory sent it beyond the Kármán line at 100 km (62 mi), making it the first cannon-fired projectile to do so.[74]

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 (234 lb) shells had a range of about 130 km (80 mi) with a maximum altitude of about 42.3 km (26.3 mi).

See also

Notes

  1. The FAI Absolute Altitude (#2325) record for balloon flight set in 1961 by Malcolm Ross and Victor Prather is still current, since it requires the balloonist to descend with the balloon.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Maksel, Rebecca (May 29, 2009). "Who Holds the Altitude Record For an Airplane?: Depends On the Category—And On Who Was Watching". Air & Space/Smithsonian magazine. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2012.
  2. Hazen, H. A. (December 9, 1898). "Glaisher's Highest Balloon Ascension". The Aeronautical Journal. 3 (9): 13. doi:10.1017/S2398187300143610. ISSN 2398-1873. S2CID 164568526.
  3. Free-falling, New Scientist, July 26, 2006, archived from the original on November 7, 2017
  4. The International Air Sports Federation (FAI). "Ballooning World Records". Archived from the original on September 8, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  5. Markoff, John (October 24, 2014). "Alan Eustace Jumps From Stratosphere, Breaking Felix Baumgartner's World Record". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014.
  6. "Alan Eustace and the Paragon StratEx Team Make Stratospheric Exploration History".
  7. McFarlan, Donald, ed. (1991). The Guinness Book of World Records (1991 ed.). Bantam Books. p. 316. ISBN 9780553289541.
  8. "Early Scientific Balloons". Archived from the original on February 8, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
  9. McFarlan, Donald, ed. (1991). The Guinness Book of World Records (1991 ed.). Bantam Books. p. 315. ISBN 9780553289541.
  10. "ISAS | 超薄膜高高度気球(BS13-08)が無人気球到達高度の世界記録を更新 / トピックス". www.isas.jaxa.jp. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  11. 1 2 "Fédération Aéronautique Internationale — Gliding World Records". Archived from the original on April 13, 2015. Retrieved July 24, 2009.
  12. "Grob 102 Standard Astir III – Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum". Retrieved September 30, 2022.
  13. 1 2 DG Flugzeugbau GmbH. "Perlan Project". Archived from the original on December 15, 2010.
  14. gGmbH, Segelflugszene. "OLC Flight information – Jim Payne (US) – 03.09.2017". www.onlinecontest.org. Archived from the original on September 3, 2017. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
  15. "The Powerless Plane Riding the Wind to a New Altitude Record". WIRED. Archived from the original on September 4, 2017. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
  16. "Airbus Perlan Mission II glider soars to 76,000 feet to break own altitude record, surpassing even U-2 reconnaissance plane" (Press release). Airbus. September 3, 2018.
  17. "Concours d'Aviation de Douai". The First Air Races. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  18. "1910 Dominguez Meet – Paulhan". Archived from the original on February 8, 2007.
  19. Washington Post. June 18, 1910. Indianapolis, Indiana, June 17, 1910. Walter Brookins, in a Wright biplane, broke the world's aeroplane record for altitude today, when he soared to a height of 4,603 feet (1,403 m), according to the measurement of the altimeter. His motor stopped as he was descending, and he made a glide of 2 miles (3.2 km), landing easily in a wheat field. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. Lewis 1971, p. 32.
  21. "International Aviation Tournament". Newsday. Archived from the original on April 26, 2008.
  22. "Hoxsey Soars 11,474 Feet; World's Record". Los Angeles Herald. December 27, 1910. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  23. "Hoxsey, Capsized By Wind, Crashes In Biplane To Instant Death At Dominguez Field". Los Angeles Herald. January 1, 1911. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
  24. "Roland Garros (FRA) (15888)". October 10, 2017. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  25. Aerial Age. 1915. Joseph E. Carberry, who holds the American record for altitude, accompanied by passenger, Capt. B. D. Foulois, Lt. T. DeWitt Milling, Lt. Ira A. Rader, Lt., Carlton G. Chapman ...
  26. Evangelisti, Giorgio, Gente dell'Aria vol. 6, Ed. Olimpia, 2000
  27. FAI record file #15455 Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.
  28. Rosenthal, Marchand, Borget, Bénichou. Nieuport 1909–1950, Larivière, 1997, ISBN 2907051113.
  29. Owers 1993, p. 51.
  30. Flight December 16, 1920, p. 1274.
  31. Angelucci and Bowers 1987, p. 195.
  32. FAI record file #8246 Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.
  33. 1 2 Flight February 7, 1924, p. 75.
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Bibliography

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