Best Glider for Altitude Record Attempt?

What glider will provide the best characteristics for mountain wave ascents to record heights?

What are those characteristics...air foil design, lofting characteristics, L/D ratio, oxygen system, etc.

What publications provide the design information for mountain wave ascents?

Jer Jerome Conners, PE Comstock Aeronautics and Engineering PO Box 509 Virginia City, NV 89440 775-834-8363 (work) 775-834-8364 (FAX) 775-847-0214 (home)

Grob 102

The Perlan project is using a DG 505M
http://www.firnspiegel.com/perlan/

They are also designing a special glider for the project. Their site is a place to start.

2-32, all metal strong as hell, no gelcoat to crack.

Sam Fly

2-33. Same advantages as 2-32 plus a whole lot cheaper if your only way down again is by parachute.

More seriously, is the glider critical or is it a question of meteorology, breathing equipment and crew endurance ?

Ian

Foster is using a modified DG505, I believe.

Read 'Exploring the Monster' by Robert F. Whelan, Wind Canyon Books, Inc., ISBN 1-891118-32-3.

On 19th March 1952 Larry Edgar and Harold Klieforth set the world absolute altitude record to 44,255ft. in a Pratt-Read two-seat glider. This had a best glide ratio of about 24 at 60 mph, and a min. sink of about 3.45ft/sec. at 51 mph (figures from the book), it also had poor penetration. They were flying from Bishop, California.

They had state-of-the-art oxygen equipment and clothing, supplied by the military because they were taking part in government funded research. In those days military equipment was designed for unheated and unpressurised cockpits.

They deliberately left 700 fpm lift when the altimeter read 44,000 ft because they considered that they had reached the limit of their equipment.

I believe this two-seater record still stands, it was beaten by a single seater in 1961.

I understand that the Perlan project is using a DG505M, with the engine removed so that the space and weight allowance for the engine can be used for high altitude equipment.

W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.). Remove 'ic' to reply.

I believe the absolute record is 49,011 ft. set in 1986 by Bob Harris, flying a Grob 102 out of California City.

you can get above your release altitude, in most states you have set a new ultralight climb record.

PW-5.

You could set 'World Class' altitude records without even using oxygen.

If you are talking world records then anything you look at will need to be either pressurised or big enough to allow you to fly in a spacesuit. You will need the manufacturers assistance to develop a variant with a higher VNE and probably control surfaces ballasted beyond the 100% range to get their flutter speeds as high as possible.

If you want to go high for a national record most glass ships will get you to the 40k mark given the right conditions.

Get ready to dig deep into your wallet, short of incredible luck setting soaring records is IMHO purely a money thing. Any plonker with a big enough wallet can do it.

I had heard sometime back, that absolute record attempts in sailplanes had been done away with, because there were too many bozos killing themselves due to lack of proper pressurization and breathing equipment. I don't remember the source, so therefore, I don't have any idea of the credibility of my comment, other than it sort of makes sense.

I've heard it too so you are probably right about the reason for lack of absolute records