09/12/2023
Aviation Pioneers

Felix Baumgartner – Austrian Skydiver, Base Jumper

Felix Baumgartner, born on April 20, 1969, is an Austrian skydiver, daredevil, and BASE jumper. While he was in the Austrian army, Baumgartner broke the world record in April 2012 and jumped to the world from 39000 meters / 39 km and reached a speed of 833.9 mph (1,342 kph). But in 2014, he handed over this record to Alan Eustace, Google’s boss. It belongs to Alan Eustace, who is now the world record holder (Felix Baumgartner Jump).

felix baumgartner jump
Felix Baumgartner Jump

The Life of Felix Baumgartner

Felix Baumgartner dreamed of flying and the skies when he was a little boy. This dream was reflected even in his paintings. His passion was evident in the picture that Felix Baumgartner drew in 1974 as a young child. Over the years, this dream has not disappeared and he was making his dreams come true with determination.

When Felix was 16, he started skydiving. In those years, he was in the Australian army and advanced his skills within the racing team. In 1988, he started to make skydiving shows through Red Bull. The extraordinary mindset of Felix Redbull, whose paths united with Red Bull at this time, was found to match his own adventurous spirit and has been in cooperation since then.

While Felix thought that he was very advanced in skydiving in the 1990s, he preferred to shift these experiences to BASE jumping. BASE jumping is an activity of parachuting from a fixed object or terrain. He concentrated on this in the following years.

– Parachutist born in Salzburg, Austria. In 1999, he tried to parachute from Petronas Towers and broke the world record.

* In 2003, it made a parachutist skydiving in the English Channel with a special carbon fiber wing.

– He performed the first jump in the world from the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The length of this jump is 39 meters.

* Felix, who always wanted to add a new one to his jumping experiences, made jumps in Turning Torso in 2006 and in Millau Viaduct in 2004.

– In 2007, he made another first, jumping from the 91st floor of the Taipei 101 building.

felix baumgartner jump, skydive
Felix Baumgartner Jump

A First for Humanity: Jumping From Space Frontier

In 2010, Felix announced that he was aiming for the highest jump record. He wanted this jump to be sponsored by the scientist and Red Bull. This targeted event included Felix being the first person to be able to cross the sound wall by jumping from 36 km away. The date of this event was set as October 9, 2012. However, due to adverse weather conditions, it was deemed appropriate to be held on October 14, 2012. On October 14, the mission to jump from the edge of space in Roswell, New Mexico, came to fruition with Felix Baumgartner’s trial. Thus, Felix jumped from 39,044 meters live and broke three world records.

The live jump was witnessed by millions of viewers from all over the world, and took off at 9:31 am, New Mexico local time. The athlete of Red Bull, who first got on the balloon and went up to the limit of space at 39.2 km per hour, jumped down to achieve his goal. The jump took place in 4 minutes 19 seconds at an average speed of 1166 km / h. Felix reached the ground safely; carried out the event that includes research and data for the team’s future aerospace projects. This success was celebrated with enthusiasm.

If we list Felix’s record-breaking achievements; The highest speed reached by Felix during its fastest free fall was 1,342.8 km / h. Free fall at the highest altitude was recorded as 39,044 meters. The manned balloon exit to the highest height at the space boundary was 39,044 meters.

Felix jumped from the stratosphere in free fall. He achieved the success of being the first person to exceed the speed of sound individually.

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