Height, depth and spaceWorld record
Highest altitude of a mixed-power aircraft with self-powered takeoff (unofficial)
36.8 km
22.87 mi
- Holder
- Robert W. Smith (Lockheed NF-104A)
- Year
- Standing since
- 1963 (63 years)
✓ Value cross-checked in a second source
What to remember
A turbojet and a rocket engine in the same airframe: that was the recipe of the mixed-power Lockheed NF-104A. On 6 December 1963, Major Robert W. Smith took it to 36.8 km, or 120,800 ft, after a self-powered takeoff.
The record is unofficial. Not all flight altitude records were certified by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, and this one was not.
The words "self-powered takeoff" matter. Aircraft that leave the ground on their own power are kept apart from those carried aloft first by a carrier aircraft before their attempt, which fall in a separate category, altitude gain.
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Sources and licences
- Value, holder and date: Wikipedia article “List of flight altitude records” (revision used 1378383058). Data from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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