These are the records set for going the highest in the atmosphere from the age of ballooning onward. Some records are certified by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
Contents |
| Year | Date | Altitude | Person | Aircraft | Power | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| imperial | metric | ||||||
| 1903 | December 17 | 10 ft | 3 m | Wilbur Wright, Orville Wright | Wright Flyer | propeller | Photographed and witnessed unofficially. |
| 1906 | October 23 | 10 ft | 3 m | Alberto Santos-Dumont | 14-bis | propeller | First officially witnessed and certified flight. |
| 1906 | November 12 | 13 ft | 4 m | Alberto Santos-Dumont | 14-bis | propeller | |
| 1908 | December 18 | 360 ft | 110 m | Wilbur Wright | Biplane | propeller | at Auovors |
| 1909 | July | 492 ft | 150 m | Louis Paulhan | Farman | propeller | Douai Air Show |
| 1909 | 3,018 ft | 920 m | Louis Paulhan | Farman | propeller | Lyon | |
| 1910 | January 9 | 4,164 ft | 1,269 m | Louis Paulhan | Farman | propeller | Los Angeles air meet[1] |
| 1910 | June 17 | 4,603 ft | 1,403 m | Walter Brookins | Wright biplane | propeller | [2] |
| 1910 | October 30 | 8,471 ft | 2,582 m | Ralph Johnstone | Wright biplane | propeller | International Aviation Tournament was at the Belmont Park race track in Elmont, New York[3] |
| 1915 | January 5 | 11,950 ft | 3,640 m | Joseph Eugene Carberry | ? | propeller | [4] |
| 1920 | February 27 | 33,113 ft | 10,093 m | Major Rudolf Schroeder | LUSAC-11 | propeller | [5][6] |
| 1921 | September 18 | 34,508 ft | 10,518 m | Lieutenant John Arthur Macready | LUSAC-11 | propeller | [7] |
| 1930 | June 4 | 43,168 ft | 13,158 m | Lieutenant Apollo Soucek, USN | Wright Apache | propeller | [8] |
| 1932 | September 16 | 43,976 ft | 13,404 m | Cyril Unwins | Vickers Vespa | propeller | [9] |
| 1933 | September 28 | 44,819 ft | 13,661 m | Gustave Lemoine | Potez 50 | propeller | [10] |
| 1934 | April 11 | 47,354 ft | 14,433 m | Renato Donati | Caproni Ca.113 | propeller | [11][12] |
| 1936 | September 28 | 49,967 ft | 15,230 m | Squadron Leader Francis Ronald Swain | Bristol Type 138 | propeller | [13] |
| 1938 | June 30 | 53,937 ft | 16,440 m | M. J. Adam | Bristol Type 138 | propeller | [13] |
| 1938 | October 22 | 56,850 ft | 17,330 m | Lieutenant Colonel Mario Pezzi | Caproni Ca.161 | manned propeller record to date | [14] |
| 1953 | May 4 | 63,668 ft | 19,406 m | Walter Frame Gibb | English Electric Canberra B.2 | Turbojet | fitted with two Rolls-Royce Olympus engines.[15] |
| 1953 | Dec 12 | 74,200 ft | 22,600 m | Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager | Bell X-1A | Payload Deployed Rocket Plane | Powered by the XLR-11 liquid fuel rocket engine. [16] |
| 1955 | August 29 | 65,876 ft | 20,079 m | Walter Frame Gibb | English Electric Canberra B.2 | Turbojet | Olympus powered.[17] |
| 1957 | August 28 | 70,310 ft | 21,430 m | Mike Randrup | English Electric Canberra B.2 | Turbojet/rocket | with Scorpion Rocket Motor |
| 1959 | December 6 | 98,557 ft | 30,040 m | Commander Lawrence E. Flint Jr | McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II | Turbojet | |
| 1962 | July 17 | 59.6 mi | 95.9 km | Robert Michael White | X-15 | rocket | |
| 1963 | July 19 | 65.8 mi | 105.9 km | Joseph Albert Walker | X-15 | rocket | |
| 1963 | August 22 | 66.9 mi | 107.7 km | Joseph Albert Walker | X-15 | rocket | |
| 1973 | July 25 | 108,720 ft | 33.14 km | A. Fedotov | Russian Ye-155 | Jet plane record | Under Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) classification the Ye-155 type |
| 1977 | August 31 | 123,520 ft | 37.65 km | A. Fedotov | Russian Ye-155 | Jet plane record | Under Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) classification the Ye-155 type |
| 2001 | August 14 | 96,863 ft | 29.524 km | Unmanned | NASA Helios HP01 | propeller | solar-electric aircraft — record for non-rocket plane |
| 2004 | October 4 | 69.6 mi | 112.0 km | Brian Binnie | SpaceShipOne | rocket plane | |
The highest altitude obtained by a piston-driven propeller UAV (without payload) is 67,028 ft. It was obtained in 1988-1989 by the Boeing Condor UAV.[18]
The highest altitude obtained in a piston-driven propeller aeroplane (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 for horizontal flight without a payload is 14,301 m (46,919 ft) set on November 15, 2003 by Bruce Bohannan flying his Bohannon B-1 driven by a Mattituck/Lycoming IO-540 (350 hp) engine over Angleton, Texas.
The highest current world absolute general aviation altitude record -General Aviation World Records- achieved by a manned air-breathing jet propelled aircraft is 37,650 meters (123,523 feet) set by Alexandr Fedotov, in a Mikoyan Gurevitch E-266M (MiG-25M), on 31 August 1977.
The highest altitude obtained by a manned aeroplane (launched from another aircraft) is 111,996 m (367,441 ft) by Brian Binnie in the Scaled Composites SpaceShipOne (powered by a Scaled Composite SD-010 engine with 18,000 lb of thrust) on 4 October 2004 at Mojave, CA. The previous (unofficial) record was 107,960 m (354,199 ft) set by Joseph A. Walker in an X-15 on August 22, 1963.
The highest altitude obtained by a rocket propelled aeroplane (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 aircraft.
On June 21, 1972, Jean Boulet of France piloted an Aérospatiale Lama helicopter to an absolute altitude record of 12,442 meters (40,814 ft).[19] At the extreme altitude the engine flamed out and the helicopter had to be (safely) landed via another record breaker — the longest-ever autorotation in history.[20] The helicopter had been stripped of all unnecessary equipment prior to the flight to minimize its weight and the pilot was breathing supplemental oxygen.
(see discussion page for correct altitude values)
| Year | Date | Altitude | Person | Aircraft | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| imperial | metric | |||||
| 2004 | December 13, 2004 | 4.1 mi (22,000 ft) | 6.614 km (6,614 m) | David Hempleman-Adams | Boland Rover A-2 | Fédération Aéronautique Internationale record for hot air balloon as of 2007[update] |
| 1783 | 15 October 1783 | 0.016 mi (84 ft) | 0.026 km (26 m) | Pilâtre de Rozier | Montgolfier | tethered balloon |
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 took off 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.
In 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).[22]
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, which was launched in October 1972 in Chico, California, USA.
In 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 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 world record set in 1972.[23]
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, breaking the previous record by 1,662 ft (507 m).[24] This record was set as part of the Perlan Project. The previous record was 49,009 ft (14,938 m) on February 17, 1986 by Robert Harris in lee waves over California City, USA.[24]
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