Baumgartner's Supersonic Jump Inspired by Bulgarian

Society | October 19, 2012, Friday // 11:57
Bulgaria: Baumgartner's Supersonic Jump Inspired by Bulgarian On Sunday, Baumgartner the record for the highest ever skydive by jumping out of a balloon 128,000ft (24 miles, 39km) above New Mexico. Photo by Red Bull/EPA/BGNES

Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner's record-shattering jump from the stratosphere has been indeed inspired by Bulgarian Ivan Trifonov, it has been revealed.

Trifonov, a 67-year-old Bulgarian man living in Vienna, recently stated that Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner "stole his project" for a record-shattering jump from the stratosphere.

The Bulgarian said that he met with Baumgartner in Salzburg back in 2005, sharing all details of his project with the Austrian. Baumgartner allegedly told him he would call him back, but never did.

"I let him have the idea on the condition that he had to include me in his team," Trifonov stated, as cited by Vienna Times.

In an interview for Pure Skydive back in 2010, Baumgartner said that he first considered the project when Trifonov contacted him back in 2004:

"I had considered the idea of a jump from near space a number of times, first in 2004, when Ivan Trifonov told with me about his ideas for such a mission. Trifonov is a balloonist who considered a similar project for many years; but he felt he had become too old to realize his dream," Baumgartner said in the interview.

"I heard about the concept again from Per Lindstrand, another balloonist, who had been working with Richard Branson on an around-the-world balloon flight. Those partners considered making an attempt at Joe Kittinger's records, but they ultimately decided not to take on such a momentous project in addition to their other plans," he added.

Red Bull has admitted that they had contact with Trifonov but said the idea for a jump into the stratosphere is already over 50 years old.

On Sunday, Baumgartner the record for the highest ever skydive by jumping out of a balloon 128,000ft (24 miles, 39km) above New Mexico. He became the first man to break the sound barrier in a free-fall jump.

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Tags: ivan trifonov, felix baumgartner, jump, skydiver, Red Bull, sound barrier

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