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Sailplane reaches 76,100 ft altitude

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Airbus sponsored flight smashes previous record. Flight took advantage of a mountain wave where Antarctic winds hit the Andes Mountains in South America. (www.nbcnews.com) Mehr...

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bentwing60
bentwing60 19
Folks, if the number doesn't really stagger you, you ain't got a clue! The highest I ever went was 47,000 in an empty C650 and that empty includes fuel. This guy is nearly 30,000 feet higher and only 10,000 feet lower than the SR71 max. operational and normal operational for a U/TR2 spy plane. With no thrust! Bet it was a pretty awesome view.
THRUSTT
THRUSTT 7
Must've been pretty rough down low at 470. I found smooth air at 495 in a 55...
bentwing60
bentwing60 1
LOL,how'd you get it up there? Must have been -70. I flew S.N. 147 (last one) some for LLM and it was a great airplane but a pretty high BOW and certainly no over achiever in performance. Cheers.
zennermd
zennermd 4
Not to mention peaceful! I cannot imagine what it must be like at that altitude with no sound of an engine.
bbabis
bbabis 4
You hear your heartbeat!
30west
30west 3
Great personal perspective Bentwing!
joelwiley
joel wiley 2
And, "The new altitude record might not last long."
bbabis
bbabis 3
Been to 510 in Lears but can't imagine 761 in a glider. Highest I've been in a glider is 10000.
wbnethery3
Bryan Nethery 1
Can you elaborate on your experience? How do you achieve that altitude with no fuel? Or did you get there and run out? Would love to hear more...
Bob8877
It must be pretty cold up that high. I wonder how high a sailplane could theoretically sail considering the air gets thinner as altitude increases.
MrTommy
MrTommy 3
Yeah, I wonder at what point you run out of thermals, which is what gliders run on.
Bob8877
Good point. The sailplane could not reach a height at which air was too thin to fly because it depends on air currents to reach whatever height it attains. The exception being if it was carried up and dropped from another aircraft.
Schuarta
Thermals are a relative low altitude phenomena - 5,000 feet typically - 10,000 to 15,000 feet in rarer desert conditions. High altitude glider flying is done with "wave lift", occurring when the jet stream blows over a high mountain range.
gabrielhull
Gabriel Myrna 2
76,100 feet (14.4 miles)...what a rush, what an accomplishment. Beautiful picture and thank you for sharing.
jayhawk13219
John Merriam 2
I got to 27,900 years ago above Pikes Peak an I thought that was awesome. 76,100 is just mind blowing. Congrats to everyone involved in this project, it is an amazing feat! I think a new Lennie pin is a must.
Schuarta
To me, the airotow to 40,000 feet takes much of the glory out of this achievement. Glider pilot achievement for many years has been based upon altitude climbed, for SILVER, GOLD, and DIAMOND rankings, with absolute altitude of lesser importance. On January 5, 1979, I flew a sailplane to 37,500 feet, with an airotow of 2,000 feet, and the sailplane cost was nothing like 3 million dollars, the cockpit was not pressurized, and the cockpit temperature was -40 degrees at max. It was a 4 hours-plus flight and the oxygen gear was Korean War military vintage. When I landed I had a 1/2 inch layer of ice on my chest, as each time I exhaled, the mask vents allowed the moisture in my breath to "snow" on my chest. 1,500 to 2,500 FPM "lift" in some locations, and similar rates of "sink" in others.
Schuarta
To me, the airotow to 40,000 feet takes much of the glory out of this achievement. Glider pilot achievement for many years has been based upon altitude climbed, for SILVER, GOLD, and DIAMOND rankings, with absolute altitude of lesser importance. On January 5, 1979, I flew a sailplane to 37,500 feet, with an airotow of 2,000 feet, and the sailplane cost was nothing like 3 million dollars, the cockpit was not pressurized, and the cockpit temperature was -40 degrees at max. It was a 4 hours-plus flight and the oxygen gear was Korean War military vintage. When I landed I had a 1/2 inch layer of ice on my chest, as each time I exhaled, the mask vents allowed the moisture in my breath to "snow" on my chest. 1,500 to 2,500 FPM "lift" in some locations, and similar rates of "sink" in others. It was a magnificent experience though - you could see forever.
craigbell1941
craigbell1941 3
WOW, and I thought I was hot stuff when I flew to 10K over Santa Rosa Mountains.
Viperguy46
Jesse Carroll 1
Okay, now how the heck do you "spot" land back at your takeoff location? Surely they use more than Whiskey Compass?...Just saying! That is a awesome sight than we will never see!
I'm jealous!
ybing
Bing Yiu 1
wow~~ amazing... but what does this benefit to normal people like us? lol
cgraydon
That is over 43 Kilometres great stuff

AAaviator
AAaviator 1
Wow!!

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