1995 News Abstracts

Northwest Arkansas Times, Fayetteville, AR, Fri June 9, 1995:
p. 1, c. 5-6 -

RIDE OF A LIFETIME

 Two Times staffers
  get a first-hand
look at the life of a
   biplane pilot

By HARRIET HAMILTON
Times Staff Writer

        The engine reved up to about the same speed our hearts were
racing.  It was Thursday morning and co-worker Scott Flanagin and I
were sitting in the open cockpit of plane that was older than both of
us together, waiting to take off behind a modern jet.

        "Hasn't there been stories about small planes getting caught
up in the wake of those big jets?"  I wondered silently. Our pilot,
Joe Kittinger Jr., maneuvered into position, his head hanging out on
the right side of the plane.  It was the only way he could see, I
reminded myself.

        "Holy smoke! We've entrusted our lives to a guy who can't see
where he's going!" I thought.

        Rain clouds loomed in the not-so-distant horizon. We were
there to do a firsthand story on this old barnstorming beauty and had
joked nervously about plane crashes all morning long. Scott's wife had
reminded him to take a Dramamine before we left. "He throws up on a
merry-go-round," she confided to me.

        Scott's greatest fear was not of merry-go-rounds at that
moment: he had visions of Kittinger doing loop-the-loops and seeing
all his camera equipment falling 1,000 feet to the ground below.

        "It isn't out of the realm of possibilities," he told himself.
"After all, Kittinger is the man who jumped out of a balloon at
102,000 feet and had a four-minute free-fall at supersonic speeds."

        We both felt the need to clarify what the ride would be like
before we set foot in the plane.

        "We fly a set pattern," Kittinger assured us. "We're not out
to scare people. We want them to have a great time."

        The jet was barely out of reach when Kittinger reved up the
220 horsepower engine and began to taxi. Within seconds the New
Standard biplane was airborne.

        Our anxiety turned to elation as we looked around us. The old
plane seemed to climb effortlessly, as if it knew it belonged in the
sky.

        The anxiety returned briefly when we noticed Kittinger had
taken his hands off the control stick and was waving them in the air,
but the old plane seemed to know what to do without him.

        Silly grins crept across our faces. My horoscope had said
something about soaring with eagles, and I felt like an eagle. I
understood why the early aviators were seduced by flying. It was like
being unshackled and set free. There was just you, the plane and the
sky. No worries, no trafflc, no schedule. It was an exquisite taste of
freedom.

        Scott said he wanted to strap on a parachute and walk out on
the wing.

        "I wanted to just stand there in a goofy grin with my arms
embracing the wind. I'd worry about picking the bugs out of my teeth
later," he said.

        Up ahead we saw the landing strip at Drake Field. The little
biplane approached the end of the runway and sat itself down, almost
as if it knew what to do, like a pony who gave rides and knew when the
time was up. As quickly as it had begun, the trip was over.


Northwest Arkansas Times, Fayetteville, AR, Fri June 9, 1995:
p. 1, c. 1-2 -

RIDE OF A LIFETIME

1920s BIPLANE PILOT BRINGS CRAFT TO TOWN

By HARRIET HAMILTON
Times Staff Writer

        Looking for something to do this weekend? How about
barnstorming Greenland at 80 mph?

        There'll be two wings on either side. a 66-year-old engine
close enough to touch, the wind in your face and nothing between you
and the ground but air. If this sounds like your kind of adventure,
then read on.

        Col Joe Kittinger Jr. is in Fayetteville with his 1920s
biplane and he'll be giving rides ($25 for adults, $15 for children
under 6) at the Arkansas Air Museum at Drake Field from 9:30 a.m.
until dark today, Saturday and Sunday.

        The biplane is a 1929 New Standard, built in 1929 for the
Gates Flying Circus. It was built especially for barnstorming, and
holds four adults and a child, plus the pilot. It normally takes
passengers on a 10-minute ride at 1,000 feet, although Kittinger said
he has flown it as high as 12,500 feet over the Rocky Mountains.

        "Barnstorming originated in the Twenties. It was the end of
World War I and there were a lot of cheap airplanes and a lot of
aviators looking for something to do," Kittinger said.

        "Pilots crisscrossed the country. They would buzz small towns
to let everyone know they were there, and then land in a field, where
they would typically overnight in the farmer's barn. They'd put up a
sign - 'Rides for $5'- and give people the thrill of a lifetime," he
said.

        "We're still doing what people did back in the Twenties, and
the smiles the people had back in the Twenties are the same smiles we
see today. We bring adventure and happiness to people," he said.

        Kittinger has been bringing smiles to faces for a long time.
In 1960 he went up to 102,000 feet in a helium balloon to test the
effects of high altitude survival. Then he jumped out, setting a world
record for the longest freefall (4 minutes, 36 seconds), for the
highest parachute jump (102,800 feet), for the first man to go
supersonic without an aircraft (714 mph during freefall) and
technically, for being the first man in space.

        In the following years Kittinger continued to set records. He
has flown five high-altitude balloon flights, the longest distance
flown in a 1,000-cubic-meter helium balloon (3,5443 miles in 86
hours).  Kittinger was the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic
Ocean in a helium balloon, and he holds the speed record in a Piper
Cheyenne and flew a Cessna 180 from Orlando, Fla., to Salisbury,
Rhodesia.

        Kittinger served three tours of duty in Vietnam and was a
prisoner of war for 11 months. In 1984 he flew a balloon solo to
Italy.  Now Kittinger tours the United States as a barnstormer.

        "If you want to see our country," he said, "that is the way to
see it: 90 mph at 1,000 feet. We flew from sea to shining sea."

        In the winter months the plane is hangared in Auburn, Ill.,
where it is maintained and cared for like a baby, he said.

        "This is the only plane of its type still flying today. There
are some in museums, but none actually flying," he said. "This is a
piece of history."

        Kittinger admits his way of making a living is a fantasy. "I'm
the envy of every man in the whole world," he said.

        "To be able to fly this beautiful old airplane and to have a
lovely wife who will drive across the country for me, it's a fantasy.
But we bring a lot of happiness to people, and that's what's fun about
it."


The Washington County Observer, West Fork, AR, Thur June 15, 1995:
p. 2, c. 1-6 -

KITTINGER AT HOME IN THE SKY
 ...first man in space soars over Fayetteville

By VELDA BROTHERTON
Observer City Editor

        Technically the first man in space, Colonel Joe Kittinger
hasn't settled his feet permanently on the ground since 1960. Oh, he
can manage to walk around quite well, but it's obvious that he's most
at home soaring the skies.

        Kittinger leases temporary seating space aboard what most
airplane buffs call the safest plane in the air for a ride that's
unforgettable. He pilots the D-25 open cockpit biplane from the back
seat; his passengers (up to five) sit up front. In the very front
seat, this reporter fastens the seatbelt securely and prepares for the
ride of a lifetime.

        "It's not my job to scare you, I just want to give you a
thrill you won't forget," he says as we settle in.

        Wind blows our hair into a "barnstormers hairdo" even before
the plane leaves the runway. Count to ten and we're in the air, the
nose of the 1929 plane pointing skyward. Out on the wing the speed
indicator registers about 60 miles per hour. From below, the plane
appears to hang on the wind before swooping gracefully like an
enormous bird catching thermals.

        This is what it feels like to be an eagle, wind tearing at
your skin, toes curled, imaginary wings spread, the open sky revolving
around you. Nothing holding you back, you dip and tilt and soar. Not
until the wheels whisper back to solid ground does reality return. You
are not a bird, but a mere land locked mortal who has been privileged
to escape those bonds for ten glorious minutes.

        Little wonder that Colonel Kittinger has no desire to come
down to earth, for up there he fulfills for himself and his passengers
man's most basic desire: to fly.  For all time humankind's
subconscious has fed him with dreams of soaring unencumbered. Long
before man learned he could fly his ancient ancestors depicted such
unimagineable antics on the gritty walls of his cave.

        Back on earth Sherry, Kittinger's wife of four years, talks
about meeting her husband when she was a chaser. That's flying talk
for ground tracking hot air balloons until they come down. At the time
Kittinger was engaged in flying folks around in a hot air balloon. He
and Sherry have been ballooning all over the world since then. This is
their second season of working with the biplane that spent four days
in Fayetteville last week.

        Says Kittinger, "When I grow up I still want to do the same
thing I'm doing now...I've never done anything I didn't think I could
survive."

        We spoke about his three tours in Vietnam flying an F-4
Phantom."I did that for my Air Force," he says in his self-effacing
way. "Combat is combat and people die."

        "The balloon jump (from 102,800 feet) was a controlled,
scientific project to gather knowledge for the space program," he
adds.

        He is quite outspoken about the Vietnam era. "I have no use
for Jane Fonda or Bill Clinton. They were traitors," he says. An
expected reaction from a man who spent 11 months in a POW camp before
that "conflict" ended, a man who performed when his country asked him
to, without question and without regret.

        Watching Kittinger fly his biplane, arms thrust high in the
open sky and a great smile across his face, its obvious that the life
he has chosen suits him very well.

        Sherry says that seven such flying events have been scheduled
for this summer, then the plane will winter in Auburn, Illinois where
it will be gone over very carefully.

        The Kittingers live in Orlando, and Joe says of wife Sherry,
"She's very special and I couldn't do this without her."

        Sherry acts as roustabout for the Plane Flying Company, and
that chore takes in almost all of the ground duty from instructing
passengers to seeing to Joe's needs.

        Said retirees Betty Wallace and Frances Wood of Fayetteville
after they disembarked from the biplane, "He really gave us a good
ride. I screamed a lot, but I scream when I play cards."

        The two women said they had always wanted to fly in a biplane,
and had tried once before with another company, but were told they
were too old.

        Kittinger had said that making people happy gave him a nice
feeling in his heart. Last weekend on the windswept runway at Drake
Field he has once again done just that.

        He praised the Arkansas Air Museum at Drake Field and Doctor
Wilson. "They are all so dedicated to planes and flying. We couldn't
do this here if it weren't for them." He also said he has a special
place in his heart for the area.



Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo, MS, Fri., Aug 18, 1995:
p. 1, c. 2-5 -

AEROSPACE PIONEER FINDS
BARNSTORMING A PLEASANT HOBBY

Photo by Jane Hill.

FREE-FALLING RECORD-HOLDER
CONTINUES UNFLAPPABLE WAYS

By JANE HILL
Daily Journal

see Roscoe Turner 1995 Newspaper articles


Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo, MS, Fri., Aug 18, 1995:
p. 1, c. 3 -

ITS FLYING, NO FRILLS, LOTS OF THRILLS

By Jane Hill
Daily Journal

see Roscoe Turner 1995 Newspaper articles


Mt. Pleasant News, Mt. Pleasant, IA, Thur August 31, 1995:
p. 1, c. 2-6 -

VINTAGE BIPLANE, HONORED PILOT BRING HISTORY TO MP AIRPORT

By Shane Barron
News staff writer

        There were no in-flight movies to sleep through, no flight
attendants to spill your drinks, and no overpriced luggage to be lost.

        It was air travel the way it was done over 60 years ago and an
appropriate event for a Midwest Old Threshers celebration that
glorifies the traditions and legacies of turn of the century
machinery.

        Air enthusiasts, much like media representatives were allowed
Wednesday, will have an opportunity to see what air travel was like
before the 1930s by taking a barnstonning tour with pilot Col. Joe
Kittinger for a picturesque view of the Old Threshers grounds and the
surrounding areas.

        Kittinger has accompanied a 1929 New Standard biplane to the Mt.
Pleasant Municipal Airport for viewing and rides during the start of the
'95 Reunion.

        Kittinger, who is a retired Air Force Colonel, still holds the
current world's record for the highest altitude parachute jump in
history, a 102,800 foot leap in 1960.

        Upon stepping inside the 1929 plane, one can't help but gain
an appreciation for the bravery of the barnstormers in the late 1920s
and early 30s.

        The instruments of the 1929 New Standard may appear medieval
in comparison to the highly computerized circuitry of modern aviation,
but nonetheless a crucial element to a safe and steady flight.

        As you are suspended thousands of feet above the earth,
traveling nearly 80 miles an hour, the wind pressing hard against your
face in the open-cockpit, you reflect on the pilots of its era.

        You will subconsciously try to hold on to something to steady
yourself, even though you soon realize that latching onto a safety bar
would be unnecessary.

        "Its a way to see the countryside," Kittinger said after
landing the aircraft. "You are just out there in the open."

        Kittinger will allow visitors to the Old Threshers ceremonies
the same opportunity throughout The Reunion anytime from 9 a.m. to
sunset.

        "You know what brings us so much pleasure and brings pleasure
to other people, is that the smile on people's faces is the same smile
they had on their faces in the 20s," Kittinger said, "Its a unique
adventure."

        A fee to ride is required for the flight. But, as the pilot is
quick to remind you, looking at the New Standard bi-plane is free. The
same rate is charged to talk to Col. Kittinger.

        Although Kittinger's acrobatic flying technique is well
renowned, visitors to the Mt. Pleasant Municipal Airport who plan on
taking a ride will only gain an appreciation for the vintage aircraft.
Unfortunately, for the more adventuresome, no trick flying will be
demonstrated.

        There should be no trouble finding access to the airport, as
free shuttle service will be provided out to the airport for
interested patrons from the Old Threshers Reunion grounds. Signs are
expected to direct budding aviators how to get onto the shuttle.

        Mt. Pleasant is the seventh stop for Kittinger on his
whirlwind barnstorming tour after having done similar stops in
Lakeland, Fla.; Vero Beach, Fla.; Decatur, Ala.; Bartlesville, Okla.;
Fayetteville, Arkansas; and Corinth, Mississippi.

        The aircraft Kittinger pilots will take up to four adults at a
time. The Colonel will maneuver the plane from side to side so that
every passenger can get a full view of the tour.

        After approximately 20 minutes, Kittinger eases the plane
gently down onto a freshly mowed grass landing strip, that is more
conducive for the aircraft than the unforgiving hardness of the normal
runway.

        As you emerge from the aircraft, you either wish that the
flight would have lasted longer, or realize where the impetus for the
airsick bag was born.

        Individual results will vary of course.

        Kittinger admits that there have been several former
passengers that got on the aircraft with apprehension in their eyes
to begin with, but he nearly guarantees that you will have a good
time.

        "We never had anyone who didn't enjoy it....never," Kittinger
added.

        And that is the simple and 'plane' truth.



BALLOON LIFE, October 1995:
p. 6 -

EDITOR

Joe Kittinger - Elder Statesman

        In early September, James L. Cole, Jr., President and CEO of
the National Aeronautic Association, wrote to Balloon Life, "It gives
me great pleasure to inform you that Colonel Kittinger, whom you
nominated, has been selected to receive one of the National Aeronautic
Association's most prestigious and distinguished recognitions, the
Elder Statesman of Aviation Award. Selection was made [in late August]
by a 39-person committee drawn from virtually all segments of
aviation, and subsequently ratified by the NAA Board of Directors."

        The award was established in 1954 to honor outstanding
Americans who, by their efforts over a period of years, have made
contributions of significant value to aeronautics, and who have
reflected credit upon America and themselves. Each year the NAA
solicits nominations and convenes a distinguished committee of august
aviation leaders from all segments of the aerospace community to
choose worthy recipients.

        Our congratulations go to all six of this year's honorees. For
more on Joe Kittinger see Preflight and Balloonmeister.


BALLOON LIFE, October 1995:
p. 10 -

PREFLIGHT

Joe Kittinger

        On October 24, Joe Kittinger, will be awarded the National
Aeronautic Association's Elder Statesman of Aviation award. The
ceremony will take place during a noon luncheon in Washington, D.C. at
the Capital Hilton.

        Joe Kittinger, who started his ballooning career with high
altitude research balloons in the 1950s, becomes the second balloonist
to be awarded this great honor. The citation reads:

        Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr.- Kittinger's aviation career began in
1949 when he was accepted into the U.S. Air Force aviation school.
After graduation, he flew as a NATO test pilot in Europe until 1953,
where he flew experimental jet fighters and became an expert in
survival and bailout techniques. Through his association with John
Paul Stapp, who was conducting rocket-sled experiments for which
Kittinger flew air tracking missions, he was assigned to Project
Manhigh. Manhigh was designed to study cosmic rays and high altitude
hardware and pilot-escape problems using a high altitude balloon with
a pressurized gondola. Kittinger piloted Manhigh I to an altitude of
96,000 feet. Lessons learned from Project Manhigh would later be
largely utilized in Proj ect Mercury. Kittinger then headed up Project
Excelsior with the goal to solve the peculiar problems posed by
bailout at extreme altitudes. Kittinger piloted Excelsior I to a
height of 76,000 feet and parachuted to earth. Excelsior II reached
74,700 feet before Kittinger left the gondola. Excelsior III rose to
102,800 feet. Kittinger jumped from the gondola and became the only
man to exceed Mach 1 in freefall.

        In Vietnam, Kittinger flew three tours as a combat fighter
pilot before being shot down in 1972. He served as Flight Operations
Director for Ed Yost (1994 NAA Elder Statesman of Aviation) during his
attempted balloon crossing of the Atlantic in Silver Fox. He received
the Gordon Bennett Trophy for gas balloons four times, and has set
several world records for balloons.


BALLOON LIFE, October 1995:
p. 41 -

BALLOONMEISTER
Joe Kittinger

by Tom Hamilton

Joe Kittinger's aviation career began in 1949 when he was accepted
into the United States Air Force aviation school.  After graduating he
was assigned to Europe where he eventually held a position as test
pilot for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization flying experimental
aircraft.

        In 1953 Kittinger was reassigned to Holloman Air Force Base,
Alamogordo, New Mexico, Fighter Test Section. He accumulated many
hours in a variety of experimental jet fighters and worked extensively
with a number of guided missile flights. As a flying safety officer at
Holloman, he became an instructor in survival and bailout techniques.

        During Kittinger's tour at Holloman he flew a T-33 aircraft to
track the rocket-sled experiments being conducted by John Paul Stapp.
This lead Kittinger to being assigned to pilot zero gravity flights
for Project Manhigh. Project Manhigh was designed to study cosmic
rays, pilot-escape problems, and high altitude hardware using a high
altitude balloon with pressurized gondola. The capsule design and
testing, and an entire decision making process developed in Project
Manhigh would be largely inherited by Project Mercury.

        On June 2, 1957 Kittinger piloted Manhigh I to a height of
96,000 feet.

        In 1958 Kittinger became project engineer in the Escape
Section of the Aeromedical Laboratory of the USAF Wright Air
Development Division. He worked on a number of projects pertaining to
emergency escape from disabled aircraft at extreme altitudes.

        Kittinger headed up Project Excelsior with the goal to solve
the peculiar problems of high altitude bailout. Project Excelsior used
a high altitude balloon with an open gondola to go to the edge of
space, the pilot returning by parachute.

        November 16,1959 Kittinger piloted Excelsior I to a height of
76,000 feet and returned to earth by jumping, free falling, and
parachuting back to the desert floor in New Mexico.

        Kittinger followed this flight with two more. Excelsior II
launched on December 11, 1959 and rose to a height of 74,700 before
Kittinger left the gondola. His final flight in this series, Excelsior
III, took place on August 16,1960. Kittinger piloted his craft to an
altitude of 102,800 feet before exiting the open gondola. On the
descent Kittinger became the first man to exceed the Speed of Sound
without an aircraft or space vehicle. It is still the highest
parachute jump ever. The freefall lasted four minutes and thirty-six
seconds, a record.

        Kittinger's next high altitude balloon project was to raise an
astronomer, a high-powered telescope, and a stable observation
platform far enough above the distorting influence of the earth's
atmosphere to allow the first unencumbered look at our universe.
Project Stargazer had one flight. On December 13, 1962 Kittinger
piloted Stargazer I to altitude of 81,500 where for thirteen hours the
astronomer on board conducted his work. This was Kittinger's fifth and
final high altitude balloon flight to the edge of space.

        Kittinger changed tempo and next volunteered for the Air
Force's Aero Commandos. He wanted to be a combat pilot in Vietnam.
Kittinger logged over 1,000 hours combat flight in Southeast Asia in
the sixties and early seventies. During his three tours of duty, he
flew a total of 483 missions, including one in March of 1972 in which
he shot down a Soviet MiG-21. Two months later, he was himself shot
down over North Vietnam and taken prisoner. He spent 11 months in
solitary confinement in the infamous "Hanoi Hilton".

        Kittinger used his time in solitary confinement to work on an
idea that he first had in 1958.  Back then he asked an Air Force
meteorologist if it was possible to fly a balloon around the world.
The answer was yes. He spent his time in prison working out the
details.

        Kittinger's contributions to aeronautics were not limited to
his military experience. In 1976 he served as flight operations
director on Ed Yost's attempted balloon crossing of the Atlantic Ocean
in Silver Fox.

        Kittinger's accomplishments during the 1980s are legendary. He
finished first four times in the Gordon Bennett Gas Balloon Race, with
three consecutive victories to retire the Gordon Bennett Trophy, and
finished second four times.

        In November 1983 Kittinger flew a 1,000 cubic meter helium
balloon from Las Vegas, Nevada to Franklinville, New York. He covered
2,001 miles in 72 hours establishing a new world record. Having
expended all available ballast he landed in his underwear.

        In September 1984 Kittinger launched from Caribou, Maine,
solo, in a 3,000 cubic meter balloon. 86 hours later he landed near
Montenotte, Italy having covered 3,543 miles, establishing a new world
record for class of balloon and becoming the first, and only, person
to fly the Atlantic Ocean in a balloon solo.

        For the last 16 years Kittinger has operated Rosie O'Grady
Flying Circus, offering hot air balloon rides and fixed wing banner
towing, in the Orlando, Florida area.

  Picture of Joe Kittinger caption:

   1957   Project Manhigh 76,000 feet.
   1960   Project Excelsior 102,800 - parachuted back to earth
              breaking the speed of sound in freefall.
   1983   2,001 miles solo in 1,000 meter balloon.
   1984   Crossed Atlantic Ocean solo by gas balloon

   Awards: Harmon Trophy
           Retired Gordon Bennett Trophy
           Elder Statesman of Aviation



EXPEDITION NEWS, Darien, CN, October 1995:
Vol. 2, No. 10 -

KITTINGER TO RECEIVE AWARD

Col. Joe Kittinger, the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic
Ocean by balloon (1984), and holder of the world parachute jump record
(102,800 feet set in 1960), will receive the Elder Statesman of Aviation
Award in Washington, D.C., October 24. This honor is one of the National
Aeronautic Association's most prestigious and distinguished recognitions.
Retired from the Air Force, but still actively pursuing aviation
expeditions, Kittinger hopes one day to fly solo around the world by
balloon.



BALLOONING JOURNAL, Holiday, 1995:
p. 31 -

KITTINGER WINS ELDER STATESMAN AWARD

        The National Aeronautic Association has selected Joseph W.
Kittinger, Jr. to receive its prestigious Elder Statesman of Aviation
award, to be presented October 24 in Washington.

        Kittinger's aviation career began in 1949 when he was accepted
into the U.S. Air Force aviation school.

        After graduation, he flew as a NATO test pilot in Europe until
1953, where he flew experimental jet fighters and became an expert in
survival and bailout techniques.

        Through his association with John Paul Stapp, who was conducting
rocket-sled experiments for which Kittinger flew air tracking missions,
he was assigned to Project Manhigh. Manhigh was designed to study cosmic
rays and high altitude hardware and pilot-escape problems using a
high-altitude balloon with a pressurized gondola.

        Kittinger piloted Manhigh I to an altitude of 96,000 feet.
Lessons learned from Project Manhigh would later be largely utilized in
Project Mercury.

        Kittinger then headed up Project Excelsior with the goal to solve
the peculiar problems posed by bailout at extreme altitudes.

        Kittinger piloted Excelsior I to a height of 76,000 feet and
parachuted to earth.  Excelsior II reached 74,700 feet before Kittinger
left the gondola.  Excelsior III rose to 102,800 feet. Kittinger jumped
from the gondola and became the only man to date to exceed Mach 1 in
freefall.

        In Vietnam, Kittinger flew three tours as a combat fighter
pilot before he was shot down in 1972.

        He served as Flight Operations Director for Ed Yost (1994 Elder
Statesman of Aviation) during his attempted balloon crossing of the
Atlantic in Silver Fox.

        Kittinger later made his own crossing in 1984, becoming the
first person to fly solo across the Atlantic in a balloon.

        Kittinger won the Gordon Bennett gas balloon distance race four
times, and has set numerous other world records for balloons. He still
holds the World Distance records for subclasses AA-6 and AA-7, set in
1983 when he flew from Las Vegas, Nevada to Farmersville, New York, a
distance of 2,110.58 miles. His distance of 3,544.25 miles, set in his
Atlantic crossing from Caribou, Maine to Montenotte, Italy, still stands
as the distance record for subclasses AA-10 to AA-13.



FLORIDA AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Indian Rocks Beach, FL, Nov 1995:
V 16, #6, Ed 124, p. 12, c. 1 -

ROUND THE WORLD BALLOON FEVER NOT HOT AIR

     Orlando... Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Airways will attempt
to fly around the world nonstop this fall.  Meanwhile, Joe Kittinger
continues his attempt at getting his Windstar airborne.



FLORIDA AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Indian Rocks Beach, FL, Nov 1995:
V 16, #6, Ed 124, p. 12, c. 2 -

AMERICA'S (FAHS) JOE KITTINGER IS STILL RIDING HIGH

    ...being in the 1st balloon up, the 1st balloon down with the
highest flying speed flying from Albuqueque to Steinauer, Nebraska in
this year's America Challenge Gas Balloon Race.
However, [in preliminary results] two women won the race. Kittinger
stated, "As a Southern gentleman, I've always been taught to let
ladies go first.  Joe is a 4X winner of the Gordon Bennett Gas
Balloon Race and was the 1st man to fly solo by balloon across the
Atlantic in 1984.  He also holds the world's record for the highest
parachute jump, over 100,000' was recently inducted into the Test
Pilot's Hall of Fame and is now director for the Windstar
Project, an effort to fly a gas balloon solo around the
world. Interested?  Write Sherry Kittinger, The Windstar Project, 608
Mariner Way, Altamonte Springs, FL 32701 or phone 407-331-5635.



EXPEDITION NEWS, Darien, CN, December 1995:
Vol.2, No. 12 -

CIRCUMNAVIGATION REMAINS THE HOLY GRAIL OF BALLOONING

One of the oldest forms of travel, dating back to the late 1700s,
ballooning is hardly hospitable to long distance travelers. Though many
have attempted, most notably the Earthwinds project based in Reno,
Nevada, balloonists have yet to circle the world non-stop  -- a feat that
could take a mere 15-18 days.

One explorer with a good chance of success is Chicago securities dealer
Steve Fossett, 50, who set the world distance record for a manned balloon
flight with his first solo crossing of the Pacific Ocean last February.
His 5,885-mile flight began in Seoul, at South Korea's Olympic Stadium,
and landed four days later on Feb. 21 in Mendham, Saskatchewan.

Fossett paid for the $250,000 British-made balloon himself and had no
sponsors. He told ABC-TV's Good Morning America on Feb. 22 that
temperatures inside his capsule hovered at zero degrees F. when cabin
heaters failed. It was so cold, Fossett had to hold drinking water next
to his body to thaw it.

Using a redesigned heating system, Fossett hopes to make a
circumnavigation attempt in January or February, flying solo in a helium
and propane Roziere balloon designed by Cameron Balloons of Bristol,
England. Fossett's balloon will launch from the Strato-Bowl, 14 miles
from Rapid City, S.D.

The unpressurized "Solo Challenger" cabin will fly at 18,000-22,000 feet,
perhaps even as high as 30,000 feet to avoid turbulent weather, and carry
scientific experiments for Loyola University Chicago. The school will
post Fossett's progress, and take questions during the flight through a
World Wide Web site.

Another balloonist hoping to make the first transglobal flight is Bob
Martin of Odyssey Expedition, Albuquerque, N.M. The Odyssey balloon has
an envelope able to expand to more than 400 feet and cruise at an
altitude of 130,000 feet. From within a pressurized gondola, the
three-man crew of Martin, Troy Bradley, and Mark Sullivan will conduct
scientific experiments for NASA's Johnson Space Center, Los Alamos
National Lab, and other institutions. The expedition is slated to launch
from Fort Sumner, N.M., in July, 1996.

At least five other groups have sights set on this last great challenge
in aviation. Among them are Joe Kittinger's Windstar Project, the UNICEF
Flyer (a three-person Dutch team led by Henk Brink), Richard Branson and
Per Lindstrand's Global Orbiter, solo balloonist Dick Rutan's Project
Aeolus I, and Julian Nott's Explorer World.


Publication Sources:

BALLOONING
The Journal of the Balloon Federation of America
P.O.Box 180
Post Mills, Vermont 05058

802-333-4883
802-333-9072 FAX


BALLOON LIFE Magazine, Inc.
2145 Dale Avenue
Sacramento, California 95815


EXPEDITION NEWS
397 Post Rd., Ste 202
Darien, CN 06820

203-656-3300
203-655-7710
4210571@mcimail.com


FLORIDA AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY
P.O. Box 127
Indian Rocks Beach, FL 34635

813-596-2551 FAX
warenbrown@aol.com


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