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Service ceiling ranking

Highest-Ceiling Aircraft

Compare published service ceilings for aircraft in the current dataset. This ranking uses only claims recorded as ceiling, not other altitude measures.

15
Eligible Aircraft

15 of 22 Aircraft have comparable published service ceiling values in the approved dataset.

Eligible Aircraft
15
Scope total
22
Coverage
68.2%
Methodology scope
All eligible

Rows identify whether each value comes from an approved family claim or configured representative variant.

Complete eligible list

Ranked Aircraft

All 15 eligible aircraft ranked by service ceiling.
RankAircraftValueScopeEraCountrySource
01Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-2118,898 m62,000 ftRepresentative variant: MiG-21PFCold WarSoviet UnionMikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21PF Fishbed-DNational Museum of the United States Air Force
02Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-2318,500 m60,695 ftRepresentative variant: MiG-23MLDCold WarSoviet UnionMiG-23MLDPima Air & Space Museum
03Lockheed F-104 Starfighter17,678 m58,000 ftRepresentative variant: F-104CCold WarUnited StatesLockheed F-104C StarfighterNational Museum of the United States Air Force
04Convair F-102 Delta Dagger16,764 m55,000 ftFamilyCold WarUnited StatesConvair F-102A Delta DaggerNational Museum of the United States Air Force
05Convair F-106 Delta Dart16,154 m53,000 ftFamilyCold WarUnited StatesConvair F-106A Delta DartNational Museum of the United States Air Force
06McDonnell F-101 Voodoo15,880 m52,100 ftRepresentative variant: F-101BCold WarUnited StatesMcDonnell F-101B VoodooNational Museum of the United States Air Force
07Northrop F-5 Freedom Fighter15,850 m52,000 ftRepresentative variant: F-5BCold WarUnited StatesNorthrop F-5B Freedom FighterPima Air & Space Museum
08Lockheed F-94 Starfire15,789 m51,800 ftRepresentative variant: F-94CCold WarUnited StatesLockheed F-94C StarfireNational Museum of the United States Air Force
09Republic F-105 Thunderchief15,545 m51,000 ftRepresentative variant: F-105DCold WarUnited StatesRepublic F-105D ThunderchiefNational Museum of the United States Air Force
10North American F-86 Sabre14,935 m49,000 ftRepresentative variant: F-86ACold WarUnited StatesNorth American F-86A SabreNational Museum of the United States Air Force
11Northrop F-89 Scorpion13,716 m45,000 ftRepresentative variant: F-89JCold WarUnited StatesNorthrop F-89J ScorpionNational Museum of the United States Air Force
12Republic F-84 Thunderjet13,180 m43,240 ftRepresentative variant: F-84ECold WarUnited StatesRepublic F-84E ThunderjetNational Museum of the United States Air Force
13Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress11,430 m37,500 ftRepresentative variant: B-17FWorld War IIUnited StatesBoeing B-17F Memphis BelleNational Museum of the United States Air Force
14Douglas A-4 Skyhawk10,302 m33,800 ftRepresentative variant: A-4ECold WarUnited StatesA-4 SkyhawkNaval History and Heritage Command / National Naval Aviation Museum
15Boeing B-29 Superfortress10,241 m33,600 ftFamilyWorld War IIUnited StatesBoeing B-29 SuperfortressNational Museum of the United States Air Force

Eligibility record

Aircraft not ranked

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How this ranking works

Ranking methodology

  • Preferred family-level claims are used first. An explicitly configured representative variant is used only when a family claim is unavailable.
  • Missing or non-comparable values are excluded. No arbitrary variant fallback is used.
  • Canonical units determine order; the table rounds metric and customary display units for readability.
  • Only actual ceiling claims are included. Other altitude measures are not substituted.
  • Source qualifiers and ranking-level warnings are preserved. The ranking covers only Aircraft in the current approved dataset.
  • Publication scope is ALL_ELIGIBLE, including prototypes if they meet the same eligibility rules.

Ranking data is generated from the site's approved source-backed aircraft dataset.

View all published rankings