Fedotov set a record while flying a modified MiG-25 above Podmoskovnoe, Russia, at a height of 123,523 feet (37,650 meters)
Alexandr Vasilievich Fedotov, a test pilot, and official “Hero of the Soviet Union,” set an FAI World Record for altitude on August 31, 1977, when he flew his MiG-25 to a height of 123,523 feet (37,650 meters).
The record is still standing, according to the website of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI-World Air Sports Federation).
Fedotov was born on June 23, 1932, in Stalingrad, then part of the USSR. He was a highly respected Soviet test pilot and a graduate of the Moscow Aviation Institute.
A test pilot since 1958 he helped test-fly the legendary MiG series of planes, including the MiG-19, MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-25, MiG-29, and MiG-31. Having flown at three times the speed of sound, Mach 3, he was the first Soviet test pilot to do it. He established 15 aviation world records while working as a test pilot, including the one on August 31, 1977.
To accomplish that record, Fedotov piloted an experimental MiG-25 fighter. The plane was a MiG-25RB that had been upgraded with a strong R15BF2-300 engine. Using this aircraft he reached the record height of 123,523 feet above Podmoskovnoe, Russia.
According to FAI, he set “a world record in Class C of Powered Aeroplanes – for planes that take off under their own power.”
Fedotov, who had already been named a Soviet Union Hero in 1966, later rose to the rank of Major-General of Aviation and USSR Honoured Coach.
Fedotov perished in a flying accident on Apr. 4, 1984, when the MiG-31 he was testing entered a tailspin from which it did not recover. Near Moscow, in his hometown of Zhukovsky, he was laid to rest.
A supersonic interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft, the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (NATO reporting name: Foxbat) was one of the fastest military aircraft to reach service. It was created, developed, and manufactured by the Mikoyan-Gurevich bureau in the Soviet Union. It was one of the few combat aircraft to be built primarily out of stainless steel.
Before retiring, Mikhail Gurevich designed the MiG-25, his final aircraft design.
Photo by Dmitriy Pichugin via Wikimedia Commons and testpilot.ru