Kittinger was impressed by Stapp's dedication and leadership as a pioneer in aerospace medicine. It was during this assignment that he flew the observation/chase plane that monitored flight surgeon Colonel John Stapp's rocket sled run of 632 mph (1,017 km/h) in 1955. In 1954, Kittinger was transferred to the Air Force Missile Development Center (AFMDC) at Holloman AFB, New Mexico. He was subsequently assigned to the 86th Fighter-Bomber Wing based at Ramstein Air Base in West Germany, flying the F-84 Thunderjet and F-86 Sabre. On completion of aviation cadet training in March 1950, he received his pilot wings and a commission as a second lieutenant. Air Force as an aviation cadet in March 1949. After racing speedboats as a teenager, he entered the U.S. He became fascinated with planes at a young age and soloed in a Piper Cub by the time he was 17. Early life and military career īorn in Tampa, Florida, and raised in Orlando, Florida, Kittinger was educated at The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, and the University of Florida. Baumgartner's record would be broken two years later by Alan Eustace. In 2012, Kittinger participated in the Red Bull Stratos project as capsule communicator at age 84, directing Felix Baumgartner on his 24-mile (39 km) freefall from Earth's stratosphere, which broke Kittinger's own 53-year-old record. In 1984, he became the first person to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a gas balloon. He was later shot down as well, subsequently spending 11 months as a prisoner of war in a North Vietnamese prison before he was repatriated in 1973. He participated in the Project Manhigh and Project Excelsior high-altitude balloon flight projects from 1956 to 1960 and was the first man to fully witness the curvature of the Earth.Ī fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, Kittinger shot down a North Vietnamese MiG-21 jet fighter. He held the world record for the highest skydive-102,800 feet (31.3 km)-from 1960 until 2012. Joseph William Kittinger II (J– December 9, 2022) was an officer in the United States Air Force (USAF) who served from 1950 to 1978, and earned Command Pilot status before retiring with the rank of colonel. Vice President of Flight Operations for Rosie O'Grady's Flying Circus (1978–1992) First person to conduct stratospheric space diving
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