Volkswacht Bodensee - Austrian space diver Felix Baumgartner was 'born to fly'

Baumgartner's dramatic 2012 jump from a capsule more than 39 kilometres (24 miles) above the Earth propelled the extreme adventure-seeker into the record books.

Sporting a "born to fly" tattoo, Baumgartner recorded the fastest freefall by leaping from the capsule and reaching a top speed of 1,357.6 kilometres (843.6 miles) per hour.

Baumgartner died on Thursday in Italy, an emergency services official in the Marche region in the north of the peninsula told AFP.

His two childhood dreams were to be a skydiver and a helicopter pilot.

"I always had the desire to be in the air," Austrian media quoted Baumgartner as saying. "I climbed trees, I wanted to see the world from above."

Baumgartner said that his training for the legendary Red Bull Stratos jump, which ended safely in the desert of the US state of New Mexico, had begun 26 years earlier, in 1986, when he first jumped out of an aeroplane.

- 'At home in the air' -

In his youth, Baumgartner, who was born in the Austrian city of Salzburg, worked as a car mechanic and repaired motorcycles as he searched for ways to take to the sky.

Having completed his first skydive in his teens, he improved his skills in the Austrian military. Over time, he built up an impressive portfolio of stunts.

One of his first records was in 1999 for the lowest BASE dive from the hand of Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil, which is 95 feet (29 metres) above the ground.

BASE is an acronym for four things that can be jumped from: buildings, antennas, spans and earth.

A licenced helicopter pilot and gas balloonist whose hobbies included boxing and climbing, he twice also set world records for the highest BASE jump from a building.

In 2003, he completed the first winged "freefall crossing" of the English Channel, leaping out of an aircraft and flying the rest of the way to from England to Calais in northern France with a pair of carbon wings.

Though never quite in the limelight as much again as in 2012, Baumgartner continued to seek thrills throughout his life, flying loopings with helicopters and driving race cars.

Dividing his time between Switzerland and the United States, Baumgartner commented avidly on politics and rubbed shoulders with Austrian far-right politicians in his native country.

On social media, he mocked the fight against climate change, actively speaking out against Green parties, and LGBTQ rights.

In 2016, he faced a storm of criticism when suggesting that anti-migration Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban should win a Nobel Peace Prize for protecting his country.

- 'Biggest dream' -

Despite the dangers, the telegenic Baumgartner never seemed to fear having to pay the ultimate price for his passion -- stressing that it was all about doing your homework.

"I hate it if someone calls me a thrill-seeker or an adrenaline junkie because I am not. I like the whole planning," Baumgartner said ahead of the 2012 stunt.

"When you're standing there on top of the world, you become so humble... The only thing is you want to come back alive," Baumgartner told reporters.

Shortly before leaping, in footage beamed live around the world on a crackly radio link recalling Neil Armstrong's first words on the Moon, Baumgartner had said: "Sometimes you have (to go) up really high to (understand) how small you are."

Baumgartner later said that he had done the record-setting jump to "inspire people" and to "leave something to the world".

In a 2022 documentary, he said that he would leave the world with a smile on his face, knowing that "big dreams always win".

burs-jza/jj/bc

S.Spengler--VB