Flight endurance record
The flight endurance record is the longest amount of time an aircraft of a particular category spent in flight without landing. It can be a solo event, or multiple people can take turns piloting the aircraft, as long as all pilots remain in the aircraft. The limit initially was the amount of fuel that could be stored for the flight, but aerial refueling extended that parameter. Due to safety concerns, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) no longer recognizes new records for the duration of manned airplane or glider flights and has never recognized any duration records for helicopters.
Aeroplane
Non-refueled, manned
Duration (hhh:mm:ss) |
Date |
Location |
Pilots |
Aircraft |
Comments |
Reference |
216:03:44 |
December 14–23, 1986 |
Edwards Air Force Base, circumnavigation |
Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager |
Rutan Voyager |
|
[2] |
117:51:00 |
June 28 to July 3, 2015 |
Nagoya, Japan - Kalaeloa Airport, Hawaii, United States (8263 kilometres) |
André Borschberg |
Solar Impulse 2 |
Solar plane, without any fuel; also longest solo airplane flight of any type |
[1][3] |
84:32:00 |
May 25–28, 1931 |
Jacksonville, Florida |
Walter Edwin Lees and Frederic Brossy |
Bellanca J-2 |
Last record recognized by FAI |
[4] |
75:23:07 |
February 26 to March 1, 1931 |
La Sénia, Algeria |
Lucien Bossoutrot and Maurice Rossi |
Blériot 110 |
|
[5] |
67:13:55 |
May 30 to June 2, 1930 |
Montecelio, Italy |
Umberto Maddalena and Fausto Cecconi |
Savoia-Marchetti S.64 |
|
[6] |
65:25:00 |
July 5–7, 1928 |
Dessau, Germany |
Johann Risztics and Wilhelm Zimmermann |
Junkers W 33 |
Also surpassed the refueled record |
[7] |
52:22:31.8 |
August 3–5, 1927 |
Dessau, Germany |
Cornelius Edzard and Johann Risztics |
Junkers W 33 |
|
[8] |
51:11:25 |
April 12–14, 1927 |
Long Island, New York |
Clarence Duncan Chamberlin and Bertrand Blanchard Acosta |
Wright-Bellanca WB-2 "Columbia" |
|
[9] |
45:11:59 |
August 7–9, 1925 |
Chartres, France |
Maurice Drouhin and Jules Landry |
Farman F.60 Goliath |
|
[10] |
37:59:10 |
July 16–17, 1924 |
Chartres, France |
Etienne Coupet and Maurice Drouhin |
Farman F-60 |
Also surpassed the refueled record |
[11] |
36:04:34 |
April 16–17, 1923 |
Wilbur Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio |
Oakley George Kelly and John Arthur Macready |
Fokker T-2 |
|
[12] |
34:14:07 |
October 14–15, 1922 |
Le Bourget, France |
Lucien Bossoutrot and Robert Drouhin |
Farman F.60 Goliath |
|
[13] |
26:19:35 |
December 29–30, 1921 |
Roosevelt Field, New York;[14] FAI record says Jacksonville, Florida |
Edward A. Stinson and Lloyd Bertaud |
Junkers-Larsen JL-6 |
First record recognized by FAI |
[15] |
24:19:07 |
June 3–4, 1920 |
Ville Sauvage la Dordogne, France |
Lucien Bossoutrot and Jean Bernard |
Farman F.60 Goliath |
|
[16] |
24:12:00 |
July 10–11, 1914 |
Johannisthal Air Field near Berlin, Germany |
Reinhold Böhm |
Albatros biplane |
|
[17][18] |
21:49:00 |
June 28–29, 1914 |
Johannisthal Air Field near Berlin, Germany |
Werner Landmann |
Albatros biplane |
|
[19] |
13:22:00 |
September 11, 1912 |
Étampes airfield in France |
Alexandre Fourny (Fourney) |
Maurice Farman MF-2 |
|
[20][21] |
11:01:29 |
September 1, 1911 |
Buc, France |
Alexandre Fourny (Fourney) |
Maurice Farman biplane |
|
[22][23] |
08:12:45 |
December 18, 1910 |
Étampes airfield in France |
Henri Farman |
Maurice Farman biplane |
|
[24] |
06:01:00 |
October 28, 1910 |
Buc, France |
Maurice Tabuteau |
Maurice Farman MF-2 |
|
[25] |
05:03:05 |
July 10, 1910 |
Reims, France |
Jan Olieslagers |
Blériot monoplane |
|
[25][26] |
04:17:35 |
November 3, 1909 |
Mourmelon-le-Grand, France |
Henri Farman |
H. Farman |
|
[27] |
02:18:33.6 |
December 31, 1908 |
Camp d’Auvours near Le Mans, France |
Wilbur Wright |
Wright Model A |
|
[28] |
01:54:00.4 |
December 18, 1908 |
Camp d’Auvours near Le Mans, France |
Wilbur Wright |
Wright Model A |
|
[28] |
01:31:25.8 |
September 21, 1908 |
Camp d’Auvours near Le Mans, France |
Wilbur Wright |
Wright Model A |
|
[28] |
01:14:20 |
September 12, 1908 |
Fort Myer, Virginia |
Orville Wright |
Wright Model A |
|
[29] |
01:10:24 |
September 11, 1908 |
Fort Myer, Virginia |
Orville Wright |
Wright Model A |
|
[29] |
01:05:52 |
September 10, 1908 |
Fort Myer, Virginia |
Orville Wright |
Wright Model A |
|
[29] |
01:02:15 |
September 9, 1908 |
Fort Myer, Virginia |
Orville Wright |
Wright Model A |
|
[29] |
00:59:23.8 |
October 5, 1905 |
Huffman Prairie, Ohio |
Wilbur Wright |
Wright Flyer III |
|
[30] |
00:33:17 |
October 4, 1905 |
Huffman Prairie, Ohio |
Orville Wright |
Wright Flyer III |
|
[30] |
00:26:11.2 |
October 3, 1905 |
Huffman Prairie, Ohio |
Orville Wright |
Wright Flyer III |
|
[30] |
00:19:56 |
September 29, 1905 |
Huffman Prairie, Ohio |
Orville Wright |
Wright Flyer III |
|
[30] |
00:18:11.4 |
September 26, 1905 |
Huffman Prairie, Ohio |
Wilbur Wright |
Wright Flyer III |
|
[30] |
00:05:41 |
September 12, 1905 |
Huffman Prairie, Ohio |
Wilbur Wright |
Wright Flyer III |
|
[30] |
00:05:04 |
November 9, 1904 |
Huffman Prairie, Ohio |
Wilbur Wright |
Wright Flyer II |
|
[31] |
00:01:38 |
October 14, 1904 |
Huffman Prairie, Ohio |
Orville Wright |
Wright Flyer II |
|
[31] |
00:01:35.8 |
September 20, 1904 |
Huffman Prairie, Ohio |
Wilbur Wright |
Wright Flyer II |
|
[31] |
00:00:59 |
December 17, 1903 |
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina |
Wilbur Wright |
Wright Flyer |
|
[32] |
00:00:12 |
December 17, 1903 |
Kitty Hawk, North Carolina |
Orville Wright |
Wright Flyer |
First flight |
[32] |
Refueled, manned
The Cessna 172, used by Robert Timm and John Cook, hanging in McCarran Airport. |
The aircraft Curtiss Robin "St. Louis" during the record flight July 13–30, 1929, St. Louis, Missouri. |
Duration (dd:hh:mm:ss) |
Date |
Location |
Pilots |
Aircraft |
Comments |
Reference |
64:22:19:05 |
December 4, 1958, to February 7, 1959 |
McCarran Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada |
Robert Timm and John Cook |
Cessna 172, Hacienda |
Refueled from moving truck on ground |
[33] |
46:20:00:00 |
August 24 to October 10, 1949 |
Yuma, Arizona |
Bob Woodhouse and Woody Jongeward |
Aeronca Sedan, City of Yuma |
Attempted to persuade government officials to reopen Yuma Army Air Field |
[34] |
42:00:02:00 |
March 15 to April 26, 1949 |
Fullerton, California |
Dick Riedel and Bill Barris |
Aeronca Sedan, Sunkist Lady |
|
[35] |
30:06:00:00 |
October 1–30, 1939 |
Long Beach, California |
Wes Carroll and Clyde Schlieper |
Piper Cub seaplane, Spirit of Kay |
|
[36][37] |
27:05:34:00 |
June 4 to July 1, 1935 |
Meridian, Mississippi |
Brothers Al and Fred Key |
Curtiss Robin, Ole Miss |
Invented a spill-free mid-air refueling nozzle |
[38] |
23:01:41:30 |
June 11 and July 4, 1930 |
Chicago, Illinois |
Brothers John and Kenneth Hunter |
Stinson SM-1 Detroiter |
|
[39] |
17:12:17:00 |
July 13–30, 1929 |
St. Louis, Missouri |
Dale Jackson and Forest O'Brine |
Curtiss Robin |
|
[40] |
10:06:43:32 |
July 2–12, 1929 |
Culver City, California |
Loren W. Mendell and Roland B. Reinhart |
Buhl Airsedan, Angeleno |
|
[41][42] |
07:06:00:00 |
June 30 to July 6, 1929 |
Cleveland, Ohio |
Roy Mitchell and Byron K. Newcomb |
Single engine monoplane named The City of Cleveland |
Not recognized as an official record by FAI because it did not exceed previous record by at least 1%. |
[43] |
07:04:31:01 |
May 19–26, 1929 |
Ft. Worth, Texas |
Reginald Robbins and James Kelly |
Mahoney -Ryan Aircraft Ryan Monoplane B-1 Brougham named Fort Worth |
|
[44] |
06:15:40:00 |
January 1–7, 1929 |
Van Nuys Airport, California |
Maj. Carl Spaatz, Capt. Ira Eaker, 1st Lt. Harry A. Halverson, 2nd Lt. Elwood Quesada, and Sgt. Roy W. Hooe |
Atlantic-Fokker C2A named Question Mark |
|
[45] |
02:12:07:00 |
June 1–4, 1928 |
Tirlemont, Belgium |
Louis Crooy and Sgt. Victor Groenen |
De Havilland DH-9 |
|
[46] |
01:13:15:14 |
August 27–28, 1923 |
Rockwell Field, California |
Capt. Lowell Smith and 1st Lt. John Paul Richter |
De Havilland DH-4B |
First refueled flight to surpass the non-refueled record |
[47] |
Airline, scheduled
Not an FAI category. See Non-stop flight.
Aeroplane, unmanned
Manned, non-refueled
" FAI category- GREAT CIRCLE DISTANCE WITHOUT LANDING
Unmanned
Free balloon, manned
Duration (hhh:mm:ss) |
Date |
Location |
Pilot |
Aircraft |
Comments |
Reference |
477:47:00 |
March 1–21, 1999 |
Château-d'Œx, Switzerland; circumnavigation |
Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones |
Breitling Orbiter 3 |
|
[55] |
355:50:00 |
June 19-July 3, 2002 |
Northam, WA (Australia) circumnavigation |
Steve Fossett |
Cameron Balloons R-550 (N277SF) |
Longest solo flight in any type of aircraft |
[56] |
268:20:00 |
July 12–23, 2016 |
Northam, WA Australia; circumnavigation |
Fedor Konyukhov |
Cameron Balloons R-550 |
Shortest time around the world |
[57] |
82:05:00 |
September 9–12, 1995 |
Wil, Switzerland to Lucincik, Ukraine (1.395,4 km) |
Johann Fuerstner and Gerald Stuerzlinger |
D-OSTZ Graf Zeppelin |
3rd place in Gordon Bennett Gas Balloon Race |
[58] |
Airship
Glider
Duration (hhh:mm:ss) |
Date |
Location |
Pilot |
Aircraft |
Comments |
Reference |
71:05:00 |
July 28-30 1961 |
Honolulu, Hawaii |
Geza Vass and Guy Davis |
|
|
[61] |
56:15:00 |
April 2–4, 1952 |
Romanin les Alpilles near Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France |
Charles Atger |
Arsenal Air 100 |
|
[62] |
Spacecraft, manned
Duration that a specific person continuously occupies the spacecraft while in orbit
Aerospacecraft, orbital, manned
References
- 1 2 Emma Howard, "Solar Impulse lands in Hawaii after longest non-stop solo flight in history ", The Guardian, Friday 3 July 2015 (page visited on 5 July 2015).
- ↑ Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Solar Impulse
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 9453, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 9513, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 9515, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 9517, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 9454, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 9451, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 9294, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 9452, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 9317, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 9464, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ New York Times, December 31, 1921, p. 7
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 9455, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ U.S. Air Services, August 1920, p. 36
- ↑ Skytamer, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ New York Times, July 13, 1914, p. 3
- ↑ Canada Aviation and Space Museum, p. 54, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ History of Aeronautics, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ New International Year Book for 1912, p. 4
- ↑ Jackmon, W.J., Flying Machines: Construction and Operation, 1912, p. 244, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Jeunes Ailes, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Aircraft, February 1911, p. 430
- 1 2 The Independent, February 16, 1911, p. 347
- ↑ Journal of the United States Artillery, July–August 1910, p. 106
- ↑ New York Times, January 1, 1910, p. 4
- 1 2 3 Centennial of Flight Commission, 1908 Flight Log for Camp d'Auvours, Le Mans, France
- 1 2 3 4 Centennial of Flight Commission, 1908 Flight Log for Ft. Myer, Va.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Centennial of Flight Commission, 1905 Flight Log for Huffman Prairie, Simms Station, Dayton, Ohio
- 1 2 3 Centennial of Flight Commission, 1904 Flight Log for Huffman Prairie, Simms Station, Dayton, Ohio
- 1 2 Centennial of Flight Commission, 1903 Flight Log for Kitty Hawk, N.C.
- ↑ AOPA Pilot, March 2008
- ↑ City of Yuma, 50th anniversary website with historical documents and pictures
- ↑ City of Fullerton Airport, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Chicago Daily Tribune, October 30, 1939
- ↑ , September 15, 2012
- ↑ Sports Illustrated, November 6, 1972
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 9559, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 9570, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Time, July 22, 1929
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 9571, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Dailey, Franklin. The Triumph of Instrument Flight
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 9572, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 9573, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 9574, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 14808, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Qantas Airways accessed July 4, 2012
- ↑ Bavarian Crono accessed July 4, 2012
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 16052, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ "Solar-powered drone breaks record with 81-hour continuous flight (Wired UK)". Wired UK. Retrieved 2016-03-08.
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 7353, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ "Robert G. Ferry dies at 85; helicopter test pilot flew record nonstop solo flight ", Los Angeles Times, February 9, 2009
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 15059, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 5961, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 7408, accessed July 15, 2015
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Record 17899, accessed November 17, 2016
- ↑ http://www.fai.org/component/phocadownload/category/?download=4525:1995-gordon-bennett-results
- ↑ Grossnick, Ross. "Kite Balloons to Airships: The Navy's Lighter than Air Experience," 2004
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 2427, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ "HAWAII: NEW WORLD RECORD FOR TWO-PLACE GLIDER SET.". www.itnsource.com. Archived from the original on 2017-07-21. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
- ↑ Soaring, May–June 1955, p. 24
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 2512, accessed August 21, 2010
- ↑ Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Record 3915, accessed August 21, 2010
Extremes of motion |
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Speed | |
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Distance | |
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Endurance | |
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See also | |
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General | |
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Military | |
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Accidents / incidents | |
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Records | |
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