Robert Harris 1986, 49,009 in just woolies.
I remember reading about Robert Harris in Soaring (the SSA magazine). He made it to just over 49,000 in a standard Grob 102 without pressure suite, with just O2 and a shitload of clothing. If I remember the article correctly he starting to have problems with his Oxygen so he basically spun all the way down to a much more reasonable altitude and, going from hazy memory, he also may have set the record for number of consecutive spins. What he also did was piss off the FAA. Cant find the SSA article but found this.
"1986, a tow plane hauled Harris and the Grob 102 Standard Astir III aloft. He unhooked the towline and soon found weak lift that he worked to an altitude of 10,640 m (35,000 ft). Strong lift then pushed the glider up at 182-243 m (600-800 ft) per minute. By the time he had reached 11,552 m (38,000 ft), frost completely covered the canopy and Harris began to fly solely by reference to his instruments. At 12,768 m (42,000 ft), his eyes began to water but the teardrops froze and immediately formed ice cobwebs. Even five layers of clothing could not insulate him from temperatures that dropped to minus 65-70 degrees F (-50 degrees Centigrade) inside the cockpit. A failing oxygen system forced him to stop his record climb at 14,899 m (49,009 ft) and he returned triumphantly to earth using backup oxygen."
https://www.backcountrypilot.org/forum/hey-ez-heard-of-this-glider-pilot-9084
Biting the hand that feeds IT
