Walter Gibb

Walter Gibb DSO, DFC (born March 26, 1919 at Port Talbot, Wales; died October 4, 2006) was a British test pilot who twice held the world altitude record.

Gibb and his observer, FM Piper, took off from Filton, near Bristol, on May 4, 1953 in an English Electric Canberra bomber powered by two Bristol Olympus engines. Climbing to the west, the Canberra reached an altitude of 63,668 ft, more than 4,000 ft higher than the previous record.

Flying the same Canberra, fitted with more powerful Olympus engines, Gibb made an attempt to break his record on August 29, 1955. Again taking off from Filton, he climbed over the Bristol Channel towards Ireland and levelled off at 50,000 ft in order to burn off fuel to lighten the aircraft before continuing his ascent. He turned east and finally reached a new record altitude of 65,876 ft (nearly 12.5 miles high) over Bristol.

External links

* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2006/10/26/db2601.xml Obituary]