Earlier, "tango4" wrote:

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 disagree on this simple basis:

To advance the world altitude record above its current level, or even
to get where it is now, will take a ton of money _and_ incredible good
luck.

The wave conditions that lofted Harris '86 and Bickle '61 were not
everyday or even every year kinds of conditions. From talking to
various folks, it seems that both days were some of the best wave
conditions for several years before and since.

As I've posted earlier, I've done a design survey of what it would
take to beat Fossett to the 100k mark (or as near as he's going to
get). Near as I can tell, the aircraft and systems and development
would cost on the order of $1.5 meg (Y2001 dollars), and the whole
program of schlepping it around the world for the three or six years
that it would probably take to hook the big one would cost many
millions more. Sure, your typical International Person of Adventure
has got the pocket change for that. But do they have the patience to
stick with it, and the luck to be at the right place at the right
time, with all their infrastructure ducks in a row?

I think that a relatively ordinary glider will get you to the
Bickle/Harris kinds of heights. But as others have pointed out, to get
much higher you're going to need pressurization and/or (preferably
_and_) space suits. And if you're going to go that far, you might as
well go whole hog.

Thanks again, and best regards to all

Bob K.
http://www.hpaircraft.com/