Limits RegistryPUBLIC RECORD
Limits RegistryA Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird, crewed by Capt. Robert C. Helt and Maj. Larry A. Elliott, reached 25,929 m (85,069 ft) in sustained horizontal flight on July 28, 1976. A separate, higher figure — 37,650 m by a MiG-25 in a near-vertical zoom climb (Alexandr Fedotov, 1977) — is the official FAI absolute-altitude record, but that was a brief ballistic peak, not sustained flight, which is why this record uses the SR-71 figure instead.
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A Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird, crewed by Capt. Robert C. Helt and Maj. Larry A. Elliott, reached 25,929 m (85,069 ft) in sustained horizontal flight on July 28, 1976. A separate, higher figure — 37,650 m by a MiG-25 in a near-vertical zoom climb (Alexandr Fedotov, 1977) — is the official FAI absolute-altitude record, but that was a brief ballistic peak, not sustained flight, which is why this record uses the SR-71 figure instead.
The highest altitude reached by a crewed aircraft in sustained, horizontal (as opposed to a momentary ballistic zoom-climb) flight.
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Limits Registry. LR-AIRCRAFT-ALTITUDE. Highest sustained altitude, crewed aircraft. 2026.