In his business life and personal life, Steve Fossett is constantly setting records and challenging himself and others.
An explorer and successful businessman, the 54-year-old has set world records in ballooning and sailing, his latest interests. He has made the longest balloon flight in the world in each of the past five years. In 1994 he crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a balloon he piloted from Canada to Germany, and in 1995 he made the first solo flight across the Pacific Ocean. In January 1997, he flew from St. Louis to Sultanpur, India, setting the world distance record of 10,361 miles. Taking off New Year’s Eve 1997 from St. Louis, he flew 5,802 miles from St. Louis to Krasnodar, in southern Russia, achieving the second longest balloon flight in aviation history, exceeded only by his previous 1997 journey. He flies Solo Spirit, using a modest budget and a relatively small balloon with an unpressurized capsule. His ultimate challenge is to complete the first Round-the-World balloon flight.
Fossett also has made his mark in sailing. He holds seven world records, including the fastest crossing of the Pacific Ocean, both with a crew and solo. His other sporting accomplishments include swimming the English channel, placing 47th in the Iditarod Dogsled Race, driving the 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race, and competing in the Ironman Triathlon.
Fossett’s spirit of adventure is also apparent in his business enterprises. He is chairman of Lakota Trading, Inc., a Chicago-based options market company with 55 members on trading floors of stock exchanges. Fossett also is president of Marathon Securities, Inc., a member firm of the New York Stock Exchange.
Fossett received a master of business administration degree from the John M. Olin School of Business at Washington University in 1968. Fossett is a member of the Board of Trustees of Washington University and was a recipient of the school’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 1995. He received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University.
Fossett is on the National Advisory council of the Boy Scouts of America. He is married to the former Peggy Viehland of Richmond Heights, MO.
Brown is a 20-year ballooning veteran, including 12 years of flying with gas balloons. He has served as launch director for most of Fossett’s flights, including the transatlantic flight of 1994 and the January 1997 and January 1998 efforts from Busch Stadium in St. Louis. As launch director, Brown is in charge of the physical assembling and launching of the balloon. This involves assembling and installing equipment and includes putting helium on board. The process takes approximately 12 hours. Brown received the 1995 Diploma Montgolfier, awarded by the F‰d‰ration A‰ronautique Internationale, the world’s governing body for ballooning. He shared the honor with Tim Cole, Fossett’s chief engineer for the upcoming flight, for being the first balloonists to fly a balloon using anhydrous ammonia for fuel.
Cole has served in one capacity or another with United States around-the-world ballooning attempts since 1981. He flew as co-pilot with Fossett in the 1994 record-setting transatlantic balloon flight, and served on the team for Fossett’s January 1997 attempt, which set absolute duration and distance records, as well as for Fossett’s January 1998 attempt. As chief engineer, Cole oversees the operational readiness for the recent improvements in the Solo Spirit burner and heating system, as well as design changes that make the current balloon 65 percent larger than the previous one, allowing it to carry 200 percent more fuel on this circumnavigation attempt. Cole is a holder of two world and 26 national ballooning records, and was inducted into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame. A 1991 duration record flight was cited by the National Aeronautics Association as one of the top 10 flights of 1991. In 1995, Cole, along with Dennis Brown, was awarded the Diploma Montgolfier, the highest award given to a balloonist. He has been an agent with Farmers Insurance Group, in Greeley, CO, for the past 26 years.
Alessio was in the Los Andes mountain guide service, which leads many expeditions to Aconcagua, the highest mountain in Argentina at 6970 meters.
Nevels handled the import of all equipment into Argentina. He is an importer and distributor of motorcycle parts and gear.
Calderón shepherded the equipment through customs in Santiago, Chilé and Mendoza, Argentina.
Pépé Danza is the managing director of a large dairy farm near Mendoza. He introduced the Solo Spirit Team to friends and business contacts in Argentina.
Fernandez, a purchase/sale representative for transactions between the United States and Argentina, coordinates launch arrangements with governmental, corporate and private entities in Argentina. Having received a law degree in 1993 from the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis, he participated in the London Law Program, focusing on international law courses, including international business transactions. Previously, he was assistant circuit attorney for the city of St. Louis, and he served internships with the public defender’s office of St. Louis County, Fernandez Immigration Law Consultants, attorneys Deveraux, Stokes & Nolan; and in Price Waterhouse’s office of government services. Fernandez, a native and resident of Mendoza, presently represents Preserve Inc., a U.S. distributor of reconditioned agricultural equipment, which has expanded sales to Argentina.
As systems manager, Padelt is responsible for building, repairing and organizing much of the equipment used in the Fossett balloon, including the pre-launch assembly process. A championship balloonist and launch expert, Padelt assisted in Fossett’s around-the-world attempt in January 1997 and again in January 1998. Involved with ballooning since age 12, he is one of the very few persons in the United States who build high-tech gas racing balloons. His balloons have claimed world records. Padelt also is a member of the board of directors of the Gas Balloon Division of the Balloon federation of America. His company, "Best" Aviation Services, in Bally, PA, builds, repairs, and inspects both hot air and gas balloons.
Robert Ivlev is a Research and Development Electronics Engineer with twenty-five years experience specializing in Video, RF, Analog, and Digital Circuit Design. He has spent the last fifteen years working for the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory as an Analog/Digital Design Engineer. He has designed electronics hardware for two Space Shuttle missions, including the first successful flight of the Drop Physics Module on the first United States Microgravity Laboratory Experiment aboard the space shuttle Columbia. He has received three NASA awards for his work and one Outstanding Performance Award from JPL. Robert has spent the last ten years involved in robotics research. During this time, he has developed electronics hardware for prototype Mars Microrovers Rocky I, III, IV, VII, and for technology demonstrations of Remote Surface Inspection for the Space Station Freedom. For the last year, he has consulted with and developed electronics and communications systems for the Solo Spirit flight. He has designed the electronics for the Aerobot Science Payload (sponsored by Washington University) which is currently being flown aboard Steve Fossett's balloon. Robert is currently involved in designing electronic systems for a Microrover that will ultimately land and collect soil samples from the planet Mars in the year 2003.
Rana "Sweetie" Graham is a Computer Programmer/Analyst with fifteen years experience in the field of mainframe programming. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from DeVry Institute of Technology. As a new member of the Solo Spirit Launch Team, Rana is responsible for the programming of computers aboard the Solo Spirit Balloon, which allows Steve Fossett to communicate with mission controllers at Washington University via the Inmarsat-C Satellite System. Currently she is working as a Programmer/Analyst for Management Solutions Inc.
A veteran balloonist certified to fly both hot air and gas balloons, Heltshe has flown in numerous countries worldwide. Like Fossett and Tim Cole, he also is a Roziere balloon pilot, and he intends to fly across the Atlantic next year. He has flown across the Alps several times with current European hot air balloon champion Peter Blazer. A member of Fossett’s team since 1994, Heltshe specializes in fuels and technical control. He is a graduate of the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, Pa.
Kugler is a 20-year ballooning veteran who holds a certificate (pilot’s license) for both hot air and gas balloons. He has been on Fossett’s team since it was formed in 1994 for Fossett and Tim Cole’s transatlantic flight, and he is very experienced in the inflation of large balloons. Kugler is plant manager for Kugler Co., a fertilizer manufacturer in McCook, Neb.
An experienced crewmember for hot air balloons and gas balloons, Lippert will help with equipment readiness. A professional firefighter, he resides in Ft. Collins, Colo.
Ross, who assisted Solo Spirit on previous launch and test flights, holds a commercial pilot’s certificate (license) for both hot air and gas balloons and has flown throughout the world, including flights in the United States, Europe and Mexico. Having assisted Tim Cole in around-the-world balloon flights and other epic balloon adventures for the past 17 years, he will assist in preparation and readiness of equipment for Fossett’s upcoming flight. He is a real estate broker with Moore Real Estate in Loveland, Colo.
Sheese was a fellow adventurer on Fossett’s 1992 Mount Everest expedition, working as a member of the moral support team. In 1996 he was a crewmember for Fossett in the Daytona 500 sports car race and served as Fossett’s trainer for the Ironman Triathlon. Sheese also was a crewmember for Fossett’s around-the-world balloon attempt in January 1997 and the one in January 1998.
A world-champion balloonist, Blount is director of mission control at Washington University in St. Louis, as he was for Fossett’s previous attempt in January 1998. His team is responsible for maintaining communication with the capsule, mapping flight paths and tracking the balloon’s progress. He will work with the capsule-tracking and meteorology teams to plot the balloon’s course and speed and to assist Fossett in steering the balloon around hostile weather patterns. Blount began ballooning in 1974 and won silver medals in both the 1980 and the 1989 U.S. Hot Air Balloon National championships. Between 1981 and 1995, he competed in five world ballooning championships. He served as president of the Balloon Federation of America from 1981-83, and was president of the federation’s competition division from 1987-89. In 1990, he was awarded the federation’s highest award, the Shields-Trauger Memorial Award, and in 1994, he claimed the Montgolfier Award, the highest international award for performance in a hot air balloon. He earned the Kinsinger Traveling Trophy in 1993 by claiming first place in the 11th World Hot Air Balloon (Ax) Championship, held that year in Luxembourg. He was jury president for the 41st Coupe Gordon Bennett balloon race held September 1997 in Warstein, Germany. Blount served as crew chief for a 1988 balloon circumnavigation attempt by John Petrehn, whose 500-foot-tall helium and hot air balloon was one of the first to use a Roziˆre-style design. He is a partner in Prudential L.T. Blount Realtors of Palos Park, Ill.
Bob Rice is the dean of adventure meteorology. He was the meteorologist for the 25 distance manned balloon flights including the first transatlantic, first solo transatlantic, first hot air transatlantic, and first hot air transpacific. He is also the top sailing meteorologist. His credits include the New Zealand America’s cup victory in 1995, the last two around the world records and all eight of Steve Fossett’s sailing world records. He also routed the transatlantic balloon flight by Steve Fossett and Tim Cole in August 1994, which is the most accurate distance flight to date.
For the past three years Dunnavan has been a senior forecaster in Bob Rice’s Weather Window, where he has been meteorologist for around the world sailing record attempts and distance balloon flights. Previously he was the Chief Forecaster in a U.S. Navy meteorological center. He is an expert on tropical cyclones.
Working from mission control, Ritchie, a businessman and long-time friend of Fossett, will help coordinate recovery of the Solo Spirit balloon and equipment, as he did for Fossett’s January 1998 flight. During Fossett’s 1996 Solo Spirit balloon flight, Ritchie volunteered to fly his Cessna Conquest close behind Fossett’s balloon so that he could assist with air traffic flight permission problems.
Mitchell has been on the mission control teams of 14 major distance flights, including the first transatlantic flight and two round-the-world attempts. He recently returned from a distinguished career in public relations.
Professor and chair of earth and planetary sciences in Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, Arvidson is mission control science coordinator for the Fossett flight and for the payload aboard the flight, as he was for the Solo Spirit mission in January 1998. A scientist who has made significant contributions to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) missions to Mars and Venus, Arvidson says the payload is prepared as a prototype of the kind of instrumentation NASA may eventually fly in the atmosphere of Mars or Venus on a robotic balloon called an aerobot. The flight provides a simulation of a planetary mission, an exciting educational outreach opportunity and a view of the world never seen before, he says. Arvidson, a 25-year NASA veteran, directs NASA’s Geosciences Node, located on the Washington University campus. It is the chief storehouse and distribution center for NASA-derived data from the surfaces and interiors of Mercury, Venus, the Moon, Mars and the larger satellites of the outer planets. Arvidson is playing a significant role in the latest round of Mars missions.
Jasper is responsible for planning and managing all communications with media before, during, and after the mission at the launch site and in mission control. She will oversee operations of the media center, the news and information Web page, the radio broadcast service and the university’s newspaper. Jasper, who is associate vice chancellor and executive director of university communications at Washington University in St. Louis, also served in this role for the January 1998 Solo Spirit flight. She has worked in public relations for more than 20 years and has managed numerous major media events at Washington University, including the 1992 Presidential Debate, several presidential visits and major conferences, the Olympic Festival, and the meetings of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing and the Society of Environmental Journalists.
Doug Blount, who will assist in navigation and tracking, started ballooning in the early ’70s. He began competing soon thereafter, and, in 1975, he flew in the U.S. Hot Air Balloon National Championships. In 1983, he was on the launch crew for Dewey Reinhardt, in the Gordon Bennett helium balloon race originating from Long Beach, Calif. In 1988, he was in charge of the launch crew for John Petrehn’s around-the-world attempt launched from Mendoza, Argentina. He assisted with Fossett’s around-the-world attempts in January 1997 and January 1998. During the Vietnam War, he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy, where his duties aboard a destroyer as gun liaison officer included maintaining the navigation plot for gun control. Blount introduced his younger brother, Alan, mission control director, to ballooning. He and Alan are partners in Prudential L.T. Blount Realtors of Palos Park, Ill.
Finkelman, who obtained her pilot’s license when she was 23 years old and shortly thereafter bought a vintage 1946 Ercoupe airplane, will assist in navigation and tracking, as she did for Fossett’s attempt in January 1998. In recent years, she founded a T-shirt company and traded on the Chicago Board of Trade in the Index Debt Energy Market - MAXI pit for six years.
Jennie Ritchie is a senior majoring in English literature at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Ill., will assist with administrative duties. Now working to earn a pilot’s license, she handled varied public relations duties for Fossett’s record-setting flight in January 1997. She is the daughter of Joe Ritchie, recovery director.
Donald Cameron, Cameron Balloons, Ltd., Bristol, England
Ilene Davies, Liz Davies, Roger Day, Jackie Hibberd and Louise Mundy
Mile Minch, Janice Moore and Mark Purdy
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This page was last updated
July 22, 1998 15:30 UTC |