Steve Fossett
Steve Fossett was an American businessman and adventurer known for being a record-setting aviator, sailor, and adventurer. He was the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon and in a fixed-wing aircraft.
Explorer
April 22, 1944
Taurus
September 03, 2007
63
Jackson, Tennessee
James Stephen “Steve” Fossett (April 22, 1944 â September 3, 2007) was an American businessman and a record-breaking aviator, sailor, and adventurer. He gained fame for his pioneering accomplishments in aviation and sailing, becoming the first individual to complete a solo nonstop circumnavigation of the globe in both a balloon and a fixed-wing aircraft. Fossett also held numerous world records for distance and speed in airplanes and sailboats. His other achievements include completing the Iditarod dog sled race, setting a glider altitude record, attempting to break the land speed record in a car, participating in amateur radio contests as a licensed operator with the call sign K6XN, and holding 13 out of 22 outright world records in speed sailing. In 2005, he successfully completed the first solo, non-stop flight around the world without refueling in the Virgin GlobalFlyer.