86 Facts About Steve Fossett

James Stephen Fossett was an American businessman and a record-setting aviator, sailor, and adventurer.

Steve Fossett was the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon and in a fixed-wing aircraft.

Steve Fossett made his fortune in the financial services industry and held world records for five nonstop circumnavigations of the Earth: as a long-distance solo balloonist, as a sailor, and as a solo flight fixed-wing aircraft pilot.

Steve Fossett broke three of the seven absolute world records for fixed-wing aircraft recognized by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, all in his Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer.

Steve Fossett disappeared on September 3,2007, while flying a light aircraft over the Great Basin Desert, between Nevada and California.

Steve Fossett was born in Jackson, Tennessee and grew up in Garden Grove, California, where he graduated from Garden Grove High School.

Steve Fossett became an active member of Troop 170 in Orange, California.

At age 13, Steve Fossett earned the Boy Scouts' highest rank of Eagle Scout.

Steve Fossett was a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow, the Boy Scouts' honor society, where he served as lodge chief.

Steve Fossett worked as a Ranger at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico during the summer of 1961.

Steve Fossett said in 2006 that Scouting was the most important activity of his youth.

In college at Stanford University, Steve Fossett was already known as an adventurer; his Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity brothers convinced him to swim to Alcatraz and raise a banner that read "Beat Cal" on the wall of the prison, closed two years previously.

Steve Fossett made the swim but was thwarted by a security guard when he arrived.

In 1966, Steve Fossett graduated from Stanford with a degree in economics.

Steve Fossett spent the following summer in Europe climbing mountains and swimming the Dardanelles.

In 1968, Steve Fossett received an MBA from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, where he was later a longtime member of the Board of Trustees.

Steve Fossett then became a successful commodities salesman in Chicago, first for Merrill Lynch in 1973, where he proved a highly successful producer of commission revenue for himself and that firm.

Steve Fossett began working in 1976 for Drexel Burnham, which assigned him one of its memberships on the Chicago Board of Trade and permitted him to market the services of the firm from a phone on the floor of that exchange.

In 1980, Steve Fossett began the process that eventually produced his enduring prosperity: renting exchange memberships to would-be floor traders, first on the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

Steve Fossett founded Lakota Trading for that purpose in 1980.

Steve Fossett earned millions renting floor trading privileges to hopeful new floor traders, who paid clearing fees to Fossett's clearing firms in proportion to the trading activity of those renting the memberships.

Steve Fossett later sold most of his business interests, although he maintained an office in Chicago until 2006.

In 1968, Steve Fossett married Peggy Steve Fossett, who was originally from Richmond Heights, Missouri.

Steve Fossett was friends with billionaire Richard Branson, whose Virgin Group sponsored some of Steve Fossett's adventures.

Steve Fossett was well known for his world records and adventures in balloons, sailboats, gliders, and powered aircraft.

Steve Fossett was an aviator of exceptional breadth of experience.

Steve Fossett wanted to become the first person to achieve a solo balloon flight around the world.

In 2005, Steve Fossett made the first solo, nonstop unrefueled circumnavigation of the world in an airplane, in 67 hours in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, a single-engine jet aircraft.

Steve Fossett set 91 aviation world records ratified by Federation Aeronautique Internationale, of which 36 stand, plus 23 sailing world records ratified by the World Sailing Speed Record Council.

On February 21,1995, Steve Fossett landed in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada, after taking off from South Korea, becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.

Steve Fossett launched the 10-story high balloon Spirit of Freedom from Northam, Western Australia on June 19,2002 and returned to Australia on July 3,2002, subsequently landing in Queensland.

Steve Fossett bought a contingency insurance policy for $500,000 that would pay him $3 million if he succeeded in the flight.

Steve Fossett was one of sailing's most prolific distance record holders.

Steve Fossett is recognized by the World Sailing Speed Record Council as "the world's most accomplished speed sailor".

In 2007, Steve Fossett held the world record for crossing the Pacific Ocean in his 125-foot sailboat, the PlayStation, which he accomplished on his fourth try.

At the time of his death a submarine, DeepFlight Challenger, was under construction to enable Steve Fossett to be the first solo submariner to reach the Challenger Deep.

Steve Fossett set the Absolute World Speed Record for airships on October 27,2004.

In 2006, Steve Fossett was one of only 17 pilots in the world licensed to fly the Zeppelin.

Steve Fossett made the first solo nonstop unrefueled fixed-wing aircraft flight around the world between February 28 and March 3,2005.

Steve Fossett took off from Salina, Kansas, where he was assisted by faculty members and students from Kansas State University, and flew eastbound with the prevailing winds, returning to Salina after 67 hours, 1 minute, 10 seconds, without refueling or making intermediate landings.

On February 11,2006, Steve Fossett set the absolute world record for "distance without landing" by flying from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, around the world eastbound, then upon returning to Florida continuing across the Atlantic a second time to land in Bournemouth, England.

The next month, Steve Fossett made a third flight around the world in order to break the absolute record for "Distance over a closed circuit without landing".

Steve Fossett took off from Salina, Kansas on March 14,2006 and returned on March 17,2006 after flying 25,262 statute miles.

Steve Fossett contributed the GlobalFlyer to the Smithsonian Institution's permanent collection.

Steve Fossett flew the plane to the Center and taxied the plane to the front door.

Steve Fossett set two US transcontinental fixed-wing aircraft records in the same day.

Steve Fossett returned to San Diego, then flew the same course as co-pilot for fellow adventurer Joe Ritchie in Ritchie's turboprop Piaggio Avanti.

Steve Fossett set the east-to-west transcontinental record for non-supersonic fixed-wing aircraft on September 17,2000.

Steve Fossett was a lifelong mountain climber and had climbed the highest peaks on six of the seven continents.

Steve Fossett accompanied Morrow for his last three peaks, including Vinson Massif in Antarctica, Carstensz Pyramid in Oceania, and Elbrus in Europe.

Steve Fossett competed in and completed premier endurance sports events, including the 1,165-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, in which he finished 47th on his second try in 1992 after training for five years.

Steve Fossett became the 270th person to swim across the English Channel on his fourth try in September 1985 with a time of 22 hours, 15 minutes.

Steve Fossett competed in the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii, the Boston Marathon, and the Leadville Trail 100, a 100-mile Colorado ultramarathon which involves running up to elevations of more than 12,600 feet in the Rocky Mountains.

Steve Fossett raced cars in the mid-1970s and later returned to the sport in the 1990s.

Steve Fossett competed in the 24 hours of Le Mans road race in 1993 and in 1996, along with the Dakar Rally.

Steve Fossett tried six times over seven years for the first solo balloon circumnavigation.

In 1998, one of the unsuccessful attempts at the ballooning record ended with a five-mile plummet into the Coral Sea off the coast of Australia that nearly killed Steve Fossett; he waited 72 hours to be rescued, at a cost of $500,000.

Steve Fossett slept an average of two hours a night for the six-day journey, conducted in below-zero temperatures.

That year, Steve Fossett flew farther for less money than better-financed expeditions in part due to his ability to fly in an unpressurized capsule, a result of his heavy physical training at high altitudes.

In 2006, Steve Fossett purchased the Formula Shell LSRV Spirit of America from former land speed record holder Craig Breedlove.

Steve Fossett rechristened the vehicle the Spirit of America Sonic Arrow and set about making improvements to the vehicle to break the land speed record.

Steve Fossett was initially unable to break even 675 miles per hour with the vehicle but eventually hoped to raise its top speed to 800 miles per hour and even 900 miles per hour.

Steve Fossett grew up in Garden Grove, California and earned the Eagle Scout award in 1957.

Steve Fossett credited his experience in Scouting as a foundation for much of his later success.

Steve Fossett later became a member of the BSA National Executive Board, and in 2007, Fossett succeeded Secretary of Defense Robert Gates as president of the National Eagle Scout Association.

Steve Fossett was honored with the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award in 1992.

In 2002, Steve Fossett received aviation's highest award, the Gold Medal of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale and in July 2007, he was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.

In 1997, Steve Fossett was inducted into the Balloon and Airship Hall of Fame.

In February 2002, Steve Fossett was named America's Rolex Yachtsman of the Year by the American Sailing Association at the New York Yacht Club.

Steve Fossett was the oldest recipient of the award in its 41-year history, and the only recipient to fly himself to the ceremony in his own plane.

Steve Fossett received the Explorers Medal from the Explorers Club following his solo balloon circumnavigation.

Steve Fossett was given the Diplome de Montgolfier by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale in 1996.

Steve Fossett received the Harmon Trophy, given annually "to the world's outstanding aviator and aeronaut", in 1998 and 2002.

Steve Fossett received the Grande Medaille of the Aero-Club de France, and the British Royal Aero Club's Gold Medal in 2002.

Steve Fossett received the Order of Magellan and the French Republic's Medaille de l'Aeronautique in 2003.

The White Knight Two VMS Spirit of Steve Fossett was named in Fossett's honor by his friend Richard Branson in late 2007.

Searchers with CAP were told that Steve Fossett had gone out for a short flight, possibly including the areas of Lucky Boy Pass and Walker Lake.

CAP Major Cynthia Ryan suggested that he might have been out scouting for potential sites to conduct a planned land speed run, though Steve Fossett's wife said the flight was a pleasure trip.

Steve Fossett apparently did not file a flight plan and was not required to do so.

British entrepreneur Richard Branson, a friend of Steve Fossett, said he and others were coordinating efforts with Google to see if any of the high-resolution images might include Steve Fossett's aircraft.

Steve Fossett said that persons purporting to have seen the aircraft on the Mechanical Turk or have special knowledge clogged her email during critical days of the search, and for even months afterward.

The preliminary report stated that Steve Fossett was "presumed fatally injured and the aircraft substantially damaged", but was revised to remove that assumption.

At an April 10,2008, Legislature's Interim Finance Committee hearing, Siracusa indicated that he had hired an independent auditor to review costs incurred by the state in searching for Steve Fossett, but added, "We are doing an audit but not because we are critical of anybody or suspect something was done wrong".

The items were confirmed as belonging to Steve Fossett and included an FAA-issued card, his Soaring Society of America membership card and $1,005 in cash.

Madera County Sheriff John Anderson said Steve Fossett would have died on impact in such a crash, and that it was not unusual for animals to drag remains away.

The aircraft, a tandem two-seater, was nearly 30 years old and Steve Fossett had flown approximately 40 hours in this type.