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.)