Fossett Glides into Record Book

Buenos Aires, Argentina – August 31, 2006 - Billionaire adventurer Steve Fossett said he broke another world record Wednesday, taking the world’s first stratospheric glider flight. He and co-pilot Einar Enevoldson, a former NASA research pilot, took their high performance research glider to an altitude of 50,671 feet, breaking the previous record by 1,662 feet. Robert Harris set the old record of 49,009 feet in 1986 in California. Flying along the crest of the Andes, Fossett and Enevoldson made the record by surfing the Andean 'mountain wave' after the glider with its 72-foot wingspan was towed to 13,000 feet. During the four-hour climb, they literally 'surfed' from one mountain wave to another to increasingly greater height. Both have extensive gliding experience. Fossett has set 10 absolute world glider records for speed and distance and Enevoldson has been flying gliders since 1949. The two wore pressure suits, helmets, foot heaters and hand muffs to ward off the cold as temperatures reached a low of –71 degrees Fahrenheit outside. They had tried unsuccessfully to break the record since 2002. “This record is special,” Fossett said on the Perlan Project website. (Perlan is the Icelandic word for Pearl. The project’s name was inspired by mother-of-pearl or nacreous clouds that occasionally can be seen at high altitudes and high latitudes.) “We have made attempts in New Zealand, USA and Argentina over a period of five years - so this is a hard won success.” During the flight, the two often flew above commercial air traffic, much to the amusement of passenger jet pilots. Fossett recalled, “I couldn’t understand the Chilean controller describing us in Spanish to the airline pilot - but I understood the answer by the pilot: 'Wow'.” The record still needs to be verified by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. But Fossett isn’t satisfied with his accomplishment. Phase 1 of the Perlan Project calls for soaring to 62,000 feet using stratospheric mountain waves, while Phase 2 calls for soaring to 100,000 feet. The later effort will require a special pressurized high altitude sailplane, which has yet to be built.

Einar Enevoldson and Steve Fossett land in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after breaking the glider altitude record on Wednesday. Einar Enevoldson (l) and Steve Fossett in Argentina after their record-breaking flight.

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