Into the Stratosphere – Without an Engine
New world glider altitude record set by Fossett and Enevoldson in Argentina
50,671 feet (15,447 m) achieved by 'Perlan' - the first ever glider flight into the earth's stratosphere
Previous record shattered by 1,662 ft (507m)
August 30, 2006 - El Calafate, Argentina:
Wearing NASA spacesuits and flying along the crest of the Andes, pilot Steve Fossett (USA b. 1944) and co-pilot Einar Enevoldson (USA b. 1932) took their 'Perlan' high performance research glider on the world's first stratrospheric glider flight yesterday - surfing the Andean 'mountain wave' to a height of 50,699 feet (15,453 m) * - while breaking the previous record by 1,662 ft (507m) . The old record 49,009 ft (14,940 m) by Robert Harris was set in 1986 in California.