Perlan Sets New World Altitude Record
The pressurised Perlan II sailplane set a new world altitude record when it reached a GPS altitude of 52,172 ft (53,955 ft pressure altitude) yesterday, September 3rd, over the Andes, flying from from El Calafate in Argentina. This beat’s the previous record of 50,721 feet (pressure) set in 2006 by Steve Fossett.
The flight is the longest (6.6 hours), coldest, and highest that Perlan 2 has flown so far, although the project’s ultimate aim is to explore the stratosphere up to 100,000 feet.
Full details of the flight are on the Perlan II website, which also contains a link to the flight log.