Highest altitude in elliptical orbit- single astronaut
On 12 Apr 1961, Soviet pilot Yuri Gagarin reached
an altitude of 327 km (203.1 mi) in Vostok 3KA
(Vostok 1). He completed a single orbit of Earth,
lasting 108 min from launch to landing. Gagarin
landed separately from his spacecraft, having
ejected with a parachute 23,000 ft (7 km) above
ground. His brief journey marked one of the most
significant landmarks in space flight (see right).
Farthest distance in freefall
without a drogue
On 14 Oct 2012, after jumping from a capsule
38,969.4 m (127,852 ft) above New Mexico,
USA, skydiver Felix Baumgartner (AUT) fell
36,402.6 m (119,431 ft) for a duration of 4 min
20 sec. Baumgartner then deployed his
parachute and landed safely on Earth, having
fallen more than four times the height of
Everest, the highest mountain.Greatest altitude for a
solar-powered aeroplane
Swiss pilot and explorer André Borschberg
set an altitude record by flying at 9,235 m
(30,298 ft) in Solar Impulse 1 on 8 Jul 2010 over
Payerne, Switzerland – the highest altitude
achieved by a manned solar-powered aircraft.
Almost five years later, in Solar Impulse 2 ,
orschberg flew for 117 hr 52 min (or ƫ days
21 hr 52 min) – the longest-duration flight
in a solar-powered aeroplane (solo). He left
Nagoya in Japan on 28 Jun 2015 and landed
in Hawaii, USA, on 3 Jul 2015.Greatest height gain in a
solar-powered aeroplane
On 24 Apr 2016, en route from Kalaeloa in
Hawaii to Mountain View in California, USA,
Bertrand Piccard (CHE; see also below
right) gained 9,02ƫ m (29,606 ft) flying
in Solar Impulse 2. The farthest distance
in a solar-powered aeroplane over a
course of pre-defined points is 5,851.3 km
(3,635.Ư mi), also by Piccard, flying in the
same craft. The record was set on a
journey from New York City, USA, to
Seville, Spain, ending on 23 Jun 2016.Farthest distance in an
open-class glider (out and return)
On 4 Jan 2016, Max H S Leenders
(NLD) achieved an out-and-return
distance of 1,251.1 km (777.4 mi)
in a Schempp-Hirth Nimbus-
4DM glider. The record
took place in Douglas,
Northern Cape,
South Africa. TheFAI
ADVENTURES
FAI
Located in the
“Olympic Capital”
of Lausanne,
Switzerland, the
FAI (also known as
the World Air Sports
Federation) is a non-
governmental and
non-profit-making
organization that
seeks to expand
aeronautical and
astronautical
activities worldwide.
The FAI ratifies
international records
and coordinates
the organization
of international
competitions. All the
records that appear
on these pages are
FAI-approved.term “out and return” denotes a closed course
with only one declared turn point.
In the same model of glider, Klaus Ohlmann
(DEU; see also opposite) covered 3,009 km
(1,869.7 mi) in Chapelco, Argentina, on 21 Jan
2003, the farthest distance flown in a glider
(three turn points). The “three turn points”
category for gliding designates a course with
not more than three turn points, and a declared
start and finish point. Turn points may include
the start andǽor finish points of the route.Farthest flight by an unmanned aircraft
The longest flight by a full-scale unmanned
conventional aircraft is 13,219.86 km
(8,214.44 mi), by the USAF Northrop Grumman
Global Hawk Southern Cross II. The plane took
off from dwards Air Force ase in California
on 22 Apr 2001 and landed at RAAF Base
Edinburgh in Adelaide, South Australia, 30 hr
23 min later on 23 Apr. The Global Hawk is a
high-altitude, long-endurance spy plane.Farthest non-stop flight by any aircraft
Steve Fossett (USA) covered 41,467.53 km
(25,766.68 mi) in the Virgin Atlantic
GlobalFlyer, taking off from the Kennedy
Space Centre in Florida, USA, on 8 Feb 2006
and setting his distance record over Shannon,
Ireland, on 11 Feb 2006.Highest altitude by an airship
On 17 Aug 2006, Stanislaw Fuodoroff (RUS)
flew the thermal airship Augur AU-35 Snow
Goose to a height of 8,180 m (26,837 ft)
over Moscow, Russia.Longest-duration flight in a balloon
The FAI endurance record for a manned balloon
flight is 19 days 21 hr ƫ7 min, by rian Jones
(UK) and Bertrand Piccard, set on a round-
the-world trip on 1–21 Mar 1999. They took off
in the Breitling Orbiter 3 from Château-d’Œx
in Switzerland and landed in western Egypt.
From 19 Jun to 2 Jul 2002, Steve Fossett
made the first circumnavigation by balloon
(solo) in his 140-ft-tall (42.6-m) mixed-gas
balloon Bud Light Spirit of Freedom. He took off
from Northam in Western Australia and landed
at Eromanga in Queensland, Australia, having
covered 20,627 mi (33,195 km).The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) is the world governing body of air
sports records. The organization was founded on 14 Oct 1905 in Paris, France.LONGEST TIME IN SPACE (AGGREGATE)
By the time he landed on 12 Sep 2015, having completed a period
of service on the International Space Station (ISS), cosmonaut
Gennady Ivanovich Padalka had spent 878 days 11 hr 29 min
2ƫ sec in space. His first space mission came in Aug 199Ư, when
he was one of the last cosmonauts to stay on the ageing Mir
space station. He spent 198 days preparing the station for
deactivation and de-orbit, returning to Earth on 28 Feb 1999.
Between 2002 and 2012, he made three visits to the newly
completed ISS, including two tours as commander of the station.Milestones in aviation21 Nov 1783
First manned balloon flight
Jean-François Pilâtre de
Rozier and the Marquis
d’Arlandes (both FRA);
Paris, FrancePadalka is
a genuine time
traveller. During
his long stay in orbit,
he aged very slightly
slower than he would
have on Earth. From his
perspective, he returned
to an Earth that had
moved forward by
around 0.02^ sec.Q: What percentage of
the world’s population
has flown?
A: Around 5%2 Jul 1900
First flight in a rigid airship
Count Ferdinand Adolf
August von Zeppelin (DEU);
Lake Constance, Germany17 Dec 1903
First powered flight
Orville Wright (USA); Kitty Hawk,
North Carolina, USA13 Nov 1907
First helicopter flight
Paul Cornu (FRA);
Calvados, Normandy, France14 Oct 1947
First human to break
the sound barrier
Chuck Yeager (USA);
Mojave Desert, USA12 Apr 1961
First manned space flight
Yuri Gagarin (USSR, now RUS);
from Kazakhstan (then
part of USSR)21 Jan 1976
First scheduled supersonic
passenger flight
Concorde;
London–Bahrain and
Paris–Rio de Janeiro routes