Powerless Aircraft Sets Altitude Record

 

Two pilots recently set a new altitude world record for gliders².

A glider¹ is an aircraft that does not have an engine. They are pulled into the air by powered airplanes and then released. They are designed to ride warm, rising air to gain altitude.

The Perlan II glider reach an altitude of 15,902 meters on September 3. The two pilots flew their aircraft above mountains in southern Argentina. The pilots beat the earlier world record for gliders by 441 meters.

The pilots hope the ability of their plane to reach the edge of outer space will influence young people to follow careers in science and engineering.

Reaching new heights

The glider was pulled into the air by a small plane. At about 3,000 meters, the plane released the connecting cable and started looking for strong updrafts of air, called the mountain waves, to take them higher.

According to chief pilot Jim Payne it took eleven flights to reach the altitude record.

"Basically, we take steps of certain amount of altitude and airspeed, gather data, analyze³ that data and if those data conform to our theory and the model we have for the airplane - then we can safely go on to the next step."

A glider flight at high altitude is very difficult. The glider has no engine to fight turbulence⁴ they may encounter.

Also, although the airspeed instrument shows the speed of only 80 to 90 kilometers per hour, the true airspeed can be much higher. At those high speeds, the wings may flutter to the point of breaking.

Also, it is very cold said pilot and project manager Morgan Sandercock.

"We have electric socks on the pilots, we literally⁵ could not fly without those electric socks, we would get frostbite. And heated vests and we're looking at upgrading our heating systems for next year because cold is the big issue that we've been dealing⁶ with this year."

Investing in the future

The Perlan II glider is made of special kind of light carbon fiber⁷ material. It also has improved mechanical properties. The company Airbus helped build the glider and transport it to Argentina.

Ken⁸ McKenzie, an employee with Airbus, says the company hopes the project will attract young people to science and technology.

"We want to actually grab the next group of pilots, engineers, mechanics, airport operators, flight attendants, basically kids that are in high school and university right now that may not have considered aerospace⁹ as a career and we want to inspire them."

In the future, the pilots hope to break the world altitude record for level flight of 25,929 meters, set in 1979 by the U.S. spy plane called the SR-71 Blackbird.

The pilots also plan to turn their aircraft into a non-polluting research vehicle for the stratosphere.

I’m Phil Dierking.

Words in This Story

altitude - n. the height of something above the level of the sea?

cable - n. a thick, strong rope made of wires that are twisted together?

conform - v. to be similar to or the same as something ?

flutter - v. to move or flap the wings quickly without flying?

frostbite - n. a condition in which part of your body freezes or almost freezes?

turbulence - n. sudden, violent movements of air or water

1 glider   

n.滑翔机；滑翔导弹

参考例句：

• The glider was soaring above the valley.那架滑翔机在山谷上空滑翔。
• The pilot managed to land the glider on a safe place.那个驾驶员设法让滑翔机着陆到一个安全的地方。

2 gliders   

n.滑翔机( glider的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The albatross is the king of gliders. 信天翁是滑翔鸟类之王。 来自《用法词典》
• For three summers, may bested and improved their gliders. 他们花了三个夏天不断地测试、改进。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

3 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

4 turbulence   

n.喧嚣，狂暴，骚乱，湍流

参考例句：

• The turbulence caused the plane to turn over.空气的激流导致飞机翻转。
• The world advances amidst turbulence.世界在动荡中前进。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

8 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

9 aerospace   

adj.航空的，宇宙航行的

参考例句：

• The world's entire aerospace industry is feeling the chill winds of recession.全世界的航空航天工业都感受到了经济衰退的寒意。
• Edward Murphy was an aerospace engineer for the US Army.爱德华·墨菲是一名美军的航宇工程师。