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Steve Fossett (born April 22, 1944, in Jackson, Tennessee) earned the rank of Eagle Scout of the Boy Scouts of America as a youth, is a recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America, and is a United States adventurer. Fossett made his fortune in American financial markets, but is best known for his four circumnavigations of the Earth, as a long-distance solo balloonist, as a sailor, and as a solo airplane pilot.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Contents 1 BALLOON PILOT 2 SAILOR 3 AIRSHIP PILOT 4 AIRPLANE PILOT 5 GLIDER PILOT 6 DIVERSE ACTIVITIES 7 SUMMARY OF WORLD RECORDS

BALLOON PILOT On February 21, 1995, Fossett landed in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada, becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon. In 2002, he was credited with being the first person to fly around the world alone, nonstop, in a balloon. He launched from Northam, Western Australia, on June 19, 2002, and returned to Australia on July 3, 2002.

SAILOR Steve Fossett is also one of the world's most accomplished sailors. Speed sailing has been Fossett's specialty and, since 1993, has dominated the record sheets, setting 21 official world records (14 standing) and 9 distance race records (8 standing). On the maxi-catamaran "Cheyenne" Steve has twice set the prestigious 24 Hour Record of Sailing, and in October 2001 Steve and his crew set a TransAtlantic record of 4 days 17 hours - not so much beating as obliterating the previous record by a whopping 43 hours 35 minutes - an increase in average speed of more than 7 knots! (Note: Many of the records were set by Fossett on the maxi-cat Cheyenne when the boat was known as "PlayStation.")

In early 2004 he, as skipper, set the world record for fastest circumnavigation of the world (58 days and 9 hours) in his sailboat Cheyenne with a crew of 13.

AIRSHIP PILOT On October 27, 2004, Fossett set a new record for fastest flight with an Airship by flying a huge Zeppelin NT with a recorded average speed of 60.4 knots (111.8 km/h, 69.5 mph.) The previous record was 50.1 knots (92.8 km/h, 57.7 mph) set in 2001 in a Virgin Airship.

AIRPLANE PILOT On February 28, 2005, Fossett took off from Salina, Kansas, in a jet-propelled airplane specially designed for this event, on the first solo, nonstop, non-refueled aerial circumnavigation of the globe by airplane. He flew eastward around the globe with the prevailing winds. On March 3, 2005, at about 01:50 PM CST, Fossett completed the record-breaking flight after 67 hours and 2 minutes and 38 seconds, with an average speed of nearly 300 mph.

On February 11, 2006, Fossett broke the world record for the longest nonstop flight, covering a distance of 26,389.3 miles. The flight, again in the Global Flyer lasted 76 hours, 45 minutes. He made an emergency landing at Bournemouth Airport, UK, after losing electrical power. His fuel tanks had 200 pounds (90 kg) remaining from an initial load of 18,100 pounds (8,210 kg).

On July 2-3 2005 Fossett and co-pilot Mark Rebholz recreated the first direct crossing of the Atlantic by the British team of John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown in June 1919 in a Vickers Vimy bi-plane.

GLIDER PILOT Among Fossett's current projects is the Perlan Project. This is an attempt to fly a glider to great altitude by exploiting stratospheric waves, with the aim of 62,000 feet. This glider, a modified DG505, is a fixed wing aircraft with no motor. Although altitude flight attempts have been made from New Zealand and Argentina, Steve has not yet reached the current world record for gliders of 49,009 feet. Since the glider cockpit is unpressurized, the pilots use a supply of oxygen to maintain consciousness (typically above 14,000 feet MSL)and wear pressure suits (space suits)so that they can fly even higher than most commercial airlines fly. They have twice achieved altitudes of over 40,000 feet.

DIVERSE ACTIVITIES Fossett has swum the English Channel, driven the 24 hours of Le Mans and raced in the 1,049 mile Iditarod dog sled race, and climbed many of the world's highest mountains along with many other feats. He continues to hike and loves to cross-country ski.

SUMMARY OF WORLD RECORDS He has set 88 Aviation World Records ratified by Federation Aéronautique Internationale plus 21 sailing world records ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council.

External links http://www.stevefossett.com/ "Fossett sets solo flight record" - BBC News article dated March 3, 2005 "Fossett makes history" - CNN.com article dated March 4, 2005 Perlan Project - high altitude gliding Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/Steve_Fossett" Categories: 1944 births | Living people | Aviators | Aeronautics | American sailboat racers | Eagle Scouts | Distinguished Eagle Scouts | World Scout Committee members

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