Kittinger Bio

Joe Kittinger

Col. Joe Kittinger was a command pilot and career military officer in the US Air Force. He is most famous for his participation in Project Manhigh and Project Excelsior, holding the records for having the highest, fastest and longest skydive, from an altitude greater than 102,000 feet, and as being the first man to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a gas balloon. Serving as a fighter pilot in Vietnam, he was shot down and spent 11 months in a North Vietnamese prison camp, the notorious Hanoi Hilton. Joe set the gas balloon world distance record in 1983 and then completed the first solo Atlantic crossing in 1984 in the Rosie O’Grady’s Balloon of Peace balloon which is on display in the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. He currently lives in Orlando and was Vice President of Flight Operations for the Rosie O’Grady’s Flying Circus for over 20 years... a title he still holds today. Bob and Joe have had numerous incredible worldwide adventures and have remained steadfast friends through the years.