He Had an Impressive Year, With World Records in Multiple Aircraft

National Aeronautic Association member Steve Fossett has been selected by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) to receive its prestigious Gold Air Medal for the year 2002.

FAI picked Fossett for the Gold Air Medal for the collective significance of his achievements. According to FAI, the Gold Medal "is reserved for those who have contributed greatly to the development of aeronautics." First awarded in 1925, the Gold Medal is the highest honor FAI can pay to a notable figure. Other past recipients of the award include Charles Lindbergh, Chuck Yeager, and Scott Crossfield.

Beginning in 1994, Fossett spent eight years trying to become the first person to circumnavigate the globe alone in a balloon. He finally accomplished the feat (on his sixth attempt) in the summer of 2002 when his Bud Light Spirit of America balloon drifted through the Southern Hemisphere on a 20,626-mile trip from Australia to Australia. The journey took a little over 355 hours (almost 15 days) to complete, making it the longest non-stop, solo flight in history. He set the Absolute World Record for "Shortest Time Around the World" in 13 days, 8 hours, 33 minutes.

Fossett has set numerous other records in the air -- not just in balloons, but also in airplanes and gliders. In 2000, he set two around-the-world speed records in a Cessna 750 Citation X, one eastbound and one westbound. As a glider pilot, he set a 500 kilometer triangle speed record of 116 mph.

FAI will also present Fossett with its De la Vaulx Medal, which is awarded to those establishing absolute world records during the previous year. This will be the fourth time Fossett receives the De la Vaulx Medal, making him one of only two people to be so recognized on four occasions.

Fossett can claim yet another distinction: he is the only person to be named five times to the National Aeronautic Association's annual list of the "Most Memorable Aviation Records." He was last tapped for this list last year, for his solo balloon flight around the world.

Steve Fossett is an adventurer of many dimensions, who has pushed himself to compete in fields besides aviation, including swimming, skiing, dog sledding, auto racing, and sailing. (In this last field, he holds 15 world records, including the transatlantic sailing record from New York to England in 4 days, 17 hours.)

FMI: www.fossettchallenge.com