Guinness Kite World Record

World altitude record for a single kite was set in 2014 by a group of Australians and is recognised by Guinness World Records.

The new World Altitude Record for a single kite was set on September 23rd 2014 by a group of Australian kite builders and flyers. The flight was a culmination of 10 years effort by Robert Moore, Roger Martin, Michael Jenkins and Michael Richards. The record flight took place on a sheep station in Western NSW in a zone authorised by the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
The kite reached 16, 009 ft above the launch point as measured by GPS telemetry and GPS data logging. The flight took about 7 hours and 40 minutes from ground to record altitude and return.
The kite was tethered to ultra thin, high strength Dyneema line, 12, 400 meters long. A computer controlled winch was used to control line release and retrieval.
DSM Dyneema in Holland provided the fiber for the line which was manufactured by Cousin-Trestec in France.
Lewis Pulleys of Sydney help with parts for the winch System. TECO Australia provided electric motors and controllers. Universal Instruments supplied theodolites. Doug La Rock from the USA built the line tension gauge.
This was the 40th flight over a ten year period and there have been 8 flights over 10, 000 ft. The kite, a DT Delta, constructed of ripstop nylon and fiberglass, was 6 metres wide and 2. 8 metres tall. After reaching 8, 000 ft it can only be tracked by telescope if there is no cloud.