Felix Baumgartner: The Man in the Sky

“Learn to love where you’ve been taught to fear. Since I was a little kid, I’vebeen told, don’t fall offanything, don’t go too close to the edge. And Ididn’t. But later I found out it feels natural for me being on the edge. So, Iwanted to see what’s behind this edge. What’s waiting for me?” Felix Baumgartner once said. The Salzburg-born adventurer was a born boundary-pusher, not made for the ordinary. Something he realized fairly early in life.

“Sometimes Ihave to ask myself, “Is it really worth the risk?” ’Cause I know it all comeswith a price. But I was always like this. I always wanted to be on top, andmy whole life is dedicated to getting there. But the higher you go, thedeeper you fall. That’s what most people are afraid of. I’m not.”

That might explain why, in 2012, he completed the most memorable parachute jump in human history. As part of the “Red Bull Stratos” project, he jumped from nearly 40 kilometers above the Earth, from a stratosphere capsule attached to a helium balloon. And broke numerous records. Among other things, he broke the sound barrier. And crossed boundaries no one had even dared to dream of before.

Born on April 20, 1969, Baumgartner grew up in Salzburg, where he dreamed of becoming a skydiver and helicopter pilot – inspired by television appearances by astronauts. He completed his first parachute jump at the age of 16. After honing his parachuting skills as a member of an Austrian Armed Forces demonstration team, he initially earned his living repairing motorcycles before becoming a professional skydiver.

And then came the free flight across the English Channel – without propulsion, without an aircraft. For this project, a special carbon fiber wing was developed, which took three years to realize. On July 31, 2003, Baumgartner jumped from a plane over Dover (England) at more than 10,000 meters altitude. On his back: the carbon fiber wing, an oxygen tank, and his parachute. The Austrian reached a speed of 354 km/h and completed the 35-kilometer flight to Calais (France) in just six minutes.

2012 marked the pinnacle with “Red Bull Stratos” – followed later by forays into the world of motorsports. On Audi’s invitation, he started in 2014 with an R8 LMS ultra at the 24-hour race on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. His teammates: Audi legends Frank Biela, Pierre Kaffer, and Marco Werner. They finished ninth in the overall ranking.

Until the end, he followed his passion for air and extreme sports, training with a motorized paraglider on the Italian Adriatic coast. A life in the air and in the skies of this world – true to the Aerosmith song “Livin’ on the Edge,” which he shared shortly before his tragic death during training. Felix Baumgartner was 56 years old.