Joseph W. “Joe” Kittinger, Jr.
Inducted into the U. S. Ballooning Hall of Fame on August 1, 2010
By the Balloon Federation of America at the
National Balloon Museum, Indianola, Iowa
Joe Kittinger was born on July 27, 1928 and grew up near Orlando, Florida. As a young boy, he flew with a local pilot and at the age of 17 was flying small aircraft on his own. Kittinger attended the University of Florida for two years and left to pursue his career in aviation, which began in the United States Air Force in 1949 where he entered as an aviation cadet and he retired after 29 years of service.
After receiving his wings he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1950. From 1950 to 1953 he served as a fighter pilot in the 86th Fighter Bomber Wing in Germany. Next he served at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. While there, Kittinger flew experimental aircraft and performed medical research for the advancement of aerospace technology and safety.
On June 2, 1957, Capt. Joseph W. Kittinger Jr. established the altitude endurance record for manned lighter-than-air aircraft by flying a balloon over Minnesota for six hours and 34 minutes. In the first flight of the Air Force’s “Project ManHigh” he remained aloft at 96,000 feet for two hours of the flight.
Kittinger earned a Distinguished Flying Cross for this flight to 96,000 feet and this mission was designed to study cosmic rays and test human physical and mental capabilities of traveling at extremely high altitudes. Shown at left is the ManHigh balloon in flight.
He made a total of 5 high altitude flights in stratospheric balloons conducting scientific experiments in preparations for the forthcoming space program. As jet aircraft flew higher and faster, the Air Force became increasingly concerned with the hazards faced by flight crews ejecting from these high performance aircraft. Project Excelsior was established in 1958 to study and solve these high altitude escape challenges. As test director, his work on Project Excelsior investigated the use of a parachute for escape from a space capsule or high altitude aircraft. In November 1959 he piloted Excelsior I to 76,000 feet and he parachuted back to earth. Excelsior II, his second high altitude parachute jump occurred one month later from 75,000 feet. Kittinger returned the next year to set two major aviation records. On August 16, 1960, Kittinger flew to 102,800 feet in a helium balloon and jumped out and his freefall lasted for 4 minutes, 36 seconds. He approached the speed of sound at 614 miles per hour before opening his parachute at 14,000 feet. To this day Kittinger holds the world records for the highest parachute jump and longest freefall. At right Joe is shown in his U.S. Air Force partial pressure suit.
Kittinger changed his focus in 1963 by joining the Air Commandos. He flew 3 combat tours in Vietnam with 1,000 hours of combat and 483 missions. He shot down a MIG 21 in March of 1972 and was shot down himself in combat two months later. He was held for 11 months in the infamous Hanoi Hilton, a North Vietnamese POW camp. He was released with all of the POWs in March 1973.
While in the POW camp, he worked out plans for his next historical mission. In 1958 he thought of the idea of flying a balloon across the Atlantic Ocean. His dream became a reality in 1984 when he piloted the first solo transatlantic balloon flight, traversing over 3,500 miles from Maine to Italy in 86 hours. At left is the balloon in flight and in the photo at right Joe is standing next to his balloon after landing in Italy.
After retiring from the Air Force in 1978, he spent 14 years as the Vice President of Flight Operations for Rosie O’Grady’s Flying Circus, which included flying hot air and gas balloons (pictures at left) all over the world and airplane banner towing and skywriting missions. In 1994 he flew Barnstorming adventures in a 1929 New Standard open cockpit bi-plane (picture at right). He and his wife Sherry flew the plane at air shows and aviation events all over the USA for 9 years and flew over 10,000 passengers.
Joe has been flying aircraft since 1944, gas balloons since 1955 and hot air balloons since 1964. He has a total of over 16,800 hours of flight time in 93 different aircraft and over 2,000 hours in gas and hot air balloons. He is currently an Aviation and Aerospace Consultant. The City of Orlando has set aside a field near Orlando Executive Airport so kids can have a place to watch airplanes--and named it "Colonel Joe Kittinger Park."
During Kittinger's military career in the USAF (1949-1978) he held a variety of assignments from Fighter Pilot to Experimental Test Pilot, to staff assignments to Squadron Commander of an F-4 squadron to Vice Commander of an F-4 Fighter Wing. On 11 May 1972, during his third combat tour, he was shot down in an F-4 in aerial combat near Hanoi and was a POW there until released in March 1973. He has 66 years of flying experience- flying aircraft throughout the USA, Canada, Mexico, Central America, Bahamas, Europe and Africa, South Vietnam, North Vietnam (no landings), Philippines and Taiwan; one flight across the Pacific Ocean in an A-26 from California to Thailand; five flights across the Atlantic Ocean--one in a Cessna 180 from Orlando, Florida to Salisbury, Rhodesia; 3 in jet fighter aircraft; one in a helium balloon. 483 combat missions with over 1000 hours of combat in B-26, A-26 and F-4 aircraft
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