Cal Poly officials say aerospace engineering professor Paulo Iscold directed a high-altitude flight test that sent a lightweight Carbon Cub UL to 37,609 feet over California’s Central Coast, shattering the long-standing altitude mark for Cub-style airplanes.
The single-engine aircraft, piloted by Jon Kotwicki, left SLO County Airport at 9:55 a.m. and reached its peak altitude after about an hour of climbing through temperatures near minus 51 degrees Fahrenheit.
While the flight wasn’t filed as an official world record, Cal Poly officials say it surpassed the 30,203-foot climb achieved in 1951 and even topped the ultralight record of 35,062 feet set in 1996.
For Iscold, the flight was more than a record attempt it was a live classroom experience. Students listened in real time as he coordinated with the pilot and air traffic control.
“Teaching by doing, together is what we want them to experience,” Iscold said. Dean Robert Crockett praised the project as a model of Cal Poly’s “Learn by Doing” philosophy, saying it gave students a front-row seat to world-class flight testing.
