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Joseph Kittinger, Jr.
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Record Setter
Kittinger's clandestine work in the New Mexico desert linked him to one of the 20th century’s most notorious non-events: the Roswell Incident. He was named as the “red-haired captain” whom eyewitnesses mentioned in the Roswell Report: Case Closed. The so-called “alien” that locals saw in an ambulance was really one of his teammates injured in a balloon crash. Still, he did not take any chances. A mat at the front door of his Orlando home adorned with little green men and flying saucers with the words: “Welcome UFO Crews, just in case he’s wrong."
- Test pilot for Project Man High, where a high altitude balloon was used with a pressurized gondola and pressure suit and in 1957 he reached an altitude of 96,000 feet.
- In 1958 he was involved with Project Excelsior to test a human's ability to survive extremely high altitude bailouts and made a jump from an altitude of 76,000 feet.
- In 1960, in Excelsior III, piloted the gondola to 102,800 feet, setting a world record for the highest balloon ascent and another for the longest parachute freefall. Received the Harmon Trophy.
- Piloted his final high altitude balloon flight in 1962 during Project Stargazer.
- Volunteered for three tours of duty in Vietnam, shot down one Mig but was shot down and spent 11 months as a prisoner of war.
- Became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic in a helium balloon in 1984.
- Won the Gordon-Bennett balloon races in 1982, 1984, and 1985.
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Biography
Enshrined 1997
1928-
Joseph William Kittinger, Junior was born on July 27th, 1928 and raised in Orlando, Florida. From the time at age two when he was introduced to flying in a Ford Trimotor at a local airport, Joe knew that "Heck! He was going to fly!" He graduated from a Jacksonville Military Preparatory School and attended the University of Florida for two years before being accepted into the U.S. Air Force Aviation School at Goodfellow Air Force Base in 1949. Upon graduation, his first flying assignment was as a fighter pilot in Germany, where he served until 1953. He then received orders to the Air Force Missile Development Center at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. There he flew many experimental jet fighters and participated in aerospace medical research.
Along the way, Kittinger flew zero gravity experiments and flew the air tracking mission for Dr. John Stappâs (1985 NAHF enshrinee) famous rocket sled run. As a result of this association, Kittinger became a test pilot for Project Man High. The purpose of this program was to study cosmic radiation, astronaut selection and training, physiological monitoring, and high altitude hardware. A high altitude balloon was used with a pressurized gondola and partial pressure suit. In 1957, Joe piloted the balloon, Man High One, to an altitude of 96,000 feet. NASA would later largely utilize lessons from this project in its famous Project Mercury.
In 1958, Joe moved on to Project Excelsior with the goal to put a man into space and to test the human ability to survive extremely high altitude bailouts. In 1959, Joe made a parachute jump from Excelsior I from an altitude of 76,000 feet. This jump almost became a tragedy. Joe lost consciousness when a stabilization chute became entangled, causing him to spin uncontrollably. The only thing that saved him was his automatic parachute opener and he continued on with the Excelsior Project.
By far, Joe's greatest feat was accomplished in Excelsior III in 1960. This time, Joe piloted the gondola to an altitude of 102,800 feet, setting a world record for the highest balloon ascent. During the ascent, the glove on his pressure suit did not function properly. Joe faced a split-second, dangerous decision. Should he continue and risk permanent damage to his hand or to abort the mission entirely? He chose to continue. Upon stepping out of the gondola, Joe set another world record for the longest parachute freefall: four minutes and thirty-six seconds before his main parachute opened at 12,000 feet. During his descent he reached speeds of up to 714 miles per hour, exceeding the speed of sound without an aircraft or space vehicle (another world record). He fell through air temperatures as low as minus 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Upon the completion of his jump, Kittinger's hand had swollen to almost twice its normal size but he suffered no permanent damage.
The Excelsior III jump established that man could survive in space and that fliers could leave their craft at extraordinary altitudes and freefall back into the Earth's atmosphere. It gave Project Gemini ejection seats for the first time. Kittinger also tested prototypes of the pressure suits the astronauts and X-15 pilots wore. In October 1960, President Eisenhower awarded Kittinger the Harmon Trophy for outstanding accomplishments in aeronautics. In 1961, Joe co-authored The Long, Lonely Leap which detailed his adventures during Projects Man High and Excelsior. Joe piloted his final high altitude balloon flight during Project Stargazer in 1962, which also took an astronomer and telescope up to 86,000 feet.
Joe then switched gears and, as an Air Force fighter pilot, volunteered for three tours of duty in Vietnam. There, he served as commander of the 555th "Triple Nickel" Tactical Fighter Squadron flying F-4s. He shot down a MIG in 1972 and two months later was shot down himself over North Vietnam. Kittinger spent 11 months as a prisoner of war in Hanoi. After his release in 1973, Kittinger served as Vice Wing Commander of an F-4 fighter wing in England. He retired in 1978 as a colonel.
Joe then spent the next fourteen years as Vice President of Flight Operations for Rosie O'Grady's Flying Circus in Orlando. There, Joe directed banner towing and skywriting operations and competed in helium and hot air balloon races all over the world.
In November of 1983, Joe again set a record for the longest distance flown in a 1,000 cubic meter helium balloon on a flight from Las Vegas, Nevada to Franklinville, New York, a distance of 2,000 miles. In September of 1984, Joe became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic ocean in a helium balloon, flying a 3,000 cubic meter balloon 3,543 miles in 86 hours. In addition to setting these records, Joe is a four-time inner of Californiaâs Gordon Bennett Balloon Race.
For the past four years, Joe has been barnstorming in a 1929 New Standard bi-plane which was built for the Gates Flying Circus. He also serves as an aviation and aerospace consultant and is still test flying airplanes and flying balloons. Joe has 15,700 hours of flying time in over seventy-two aircraft. On top of his many awards and decorations, Joe received the National Aeronautics Association Elder Statesman of Aviation in 1995 and Barnstormer of the Year in 1996.
For his daring and courage in truly going "where no man has gone before" and his skill and knowledge which paved the way for NASA's astronaut program, Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr. is enshrined with highest honor into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
Don't Leave Yet! We have a limited edition signed profile print of Joe Kittinger's F4D Phantom.
For more information on Joe Kittinger, you may want to visit these websites:
Air Force Bio
Centennial of Flight
POW Network
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