Glider Altitude (Record?) over Mt. Everest

See: http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?id=1409

Birdman' Angelo d'Arrigo breaks Everest altitude record: 9100m
reached over Tupungato volcano
9100m (29,850 ft) high! A new record set by Angelo d'Arrigo's
free-flight in his hang glider, using the specially designed "Bullet
Harness". The new design proved to be an aerodynamical success,
reaching a speed of 160km/h. Image by Doclab productions, courtesy of
Angelo d'Arrigo (click to enlarge).

Among Angentineans, Angelo is already known as the "Aconcagua
Condor" - at least as far as the media is concerned. d'Arrigo has
accomplished two record-breaking flights in the Aconcagua region. Image
courtesy of Angelo's Aconcagua XP 05 team (click to enlarge).

11:00 am EST Jan 17, 2006
(Mounteverest.net) The "Aconcagua Condor", as he is known among his
fellow Argentinians last captivated media and fans everywhere when he
soared over the highest peak of the American continent on Dec 31st
2005. For ExplorersWeb, Angelo d'Arrigo is still known as 'Birdman'
- the guy who flew among flocks of geese across Siberia, who followed
Step Eagles above Tibetan plains, and who astonished Everest 2004
summiteers by flying over them in his hang-glider.

Now, just days after Aconcagua, d'Arrigo reached 9100m (29,850 feet) as
he flew over Tupungato volcano in the Andean Cordillera (Range),
breaking his very own Everest 2004 altitude record.

The second flight of the Condor

The flight over Everest, awarded one of the Best of ExplorersWeb 2004,
set a new altitude world record in towed-up free flight. The record
(untouched for two years) has finally been beaten - and by Angelo
himself!

Once again towed by his team mate Richard Meredith, Angelo's Tupungato
flight took place on January 6th. He described the weather conditions
that day as 'optimal'.

Surfin' the air waves over the Andes

''I targeted my second goal in a week'', d'Arrigo would explain later.
''I had to leave the Aconcagua area due to forecasts for very strong
winds; so I moved south-eastwards, to the Rivadavia zone".

"Up to 5000m we had strong turbulences," Angelo told Los Andes
newspaper. "I was released above 9000m. I free-flew using ondulatory
air currents from the Pacific Ocean which rise up as they hit Tupungato
Volcano and the Andean Cordillera. They are the very same currents the
condors use for their own flight."

Eventually, the hang-glider reached a speed of 160 km/h, enduring 90
km/h winds and -48ºC temperatures. The flight took 2hours and 55
minutes.

'Children' waiting back a home

The record of 9100 meters was registered in a sealed barograph which
will now be taken by the Italian Aero Club for confirmation by the
World Federation.

Mission accomplished, Angelo is now back home in Sicily where his
adopted condor chicks, Inca and Maya, were anxiously awaiting their
surrogate parent.

Angelo has fed and nurtured the condors since birth. He has even taught
them to fly using his condor-shaped hang-glider. Both Inca and Maya
have already flown along side Angelo around Mt. Etna. Once the condors
are ready, they will be released in the Peruvian Andes.

Next up: Antarctica's roof

Apart from his Condor project, Angelo is already thinking of his next
high altitude flight. Next peak up: Mt. Vinson, the highest peak on
Antarctica. d'Arrigo hopes to fly over the mountain in 2007.

In 2001, Angelo guided a migratory eagle over the Sahara desert and the
Mediterranean Sea, completing the first 'free flight Sahara
crossing' in hang-gliding history. The event caught the attention of
many scientists.

Russian biologist Alexander Sorokin invited Angelo to work on his
Siberian Cranes Project and one year later they were defining
strategies for a sort of migratory birds 'flying school'. Flying in
his hang-glider, Angelo would teach these birds the ways of migration.

Supported by Moscow's ARRINP (All Russian Research Institute for
Nature and Protection) and Washington's ICF (International Crane
Foundation), they guided a flock of cranes across Siberia from the
Arctic Circle. Besides being a huge advancement in science, it was also
the longest free flight ever performed at the time.

With "Flying Over Everest" in 2004, Angelo fulfilled a dream that
was four years in the making. He prepared extensively for the project
by working in hypobaric chambers and testing gear in a wind tunnel.
Angelo became the first man ever to fly over the summit of Everest on a
hang glider. During this same project, Angelo also released a Himalayan
eagle in Everest National Park.

On the last day of 2005, Italian Angelo d'Arrigo fulfilled his dream
of flying over Aconcagua. In his condor-shaped hang-glider, Angelo was
towed by a micro- light piloted by Richard Meredith - the very same who
helped the Italian in his 2004 flight over Everest. At around 7000m,
Angelo broke free from the tow and kept ascending thanks to some strong
thermic currents. He reportedly reached 7453m.

On Aconcagua, Angelo is fulfilling the first of two expeditions that
together will make up d'Arrigo's "Wings of Condor" project (National
Geographic will be shooting a documentary on both). Both expeditions
will be linked with d'Arrigo's Condor Research Project:

At home in Italy's Etna region, Angelo is caring for and giving
flying lessons to two 'adopted' condor chicks: Inca and Maya. Next
year, the condors will be released into their natural environment, in
Peruvian Andes.