1) Longest Powered Paraglide

May 15, 2009, to Sept. 5, 2009

Dangling from a parachute with a 202-cc engine and a carbon-fiber propeller on his back, Ben Jordan glided more than 6000 miles across Canada at 25 to 30 mph, stopping every few hours to refuel. On his 114-day journey from the Pacific Coast to Newfoundland, he traveled over vast expanses of uninhabited land that most paragliders wouldn't attempt to cross. "There's a reason no one has ever done this," he says. "You don't want to fly this thing 60 kilometers from civilization."


(Photo by Martin Rose/Getty Images)

2) Highest Building BASE Jump

Jan. 6, 2010

Though Omar Alhegelan has sky-dived more than 16,000 times and BASE-jumped from places like Malaysia's Petronas Towers, fear still courses through him before every jump—and Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, was no exception. As he stood on the precipice, 2200 feet above the ground, "I felt a little shake in my knees," he says. "But I welcome that fear." To those watching, Alhegelan's fear was unapparent: He gracefully backflipped off the tower, plummeted for 10 seconds and deployed his chute, gently floating to the ground.

3) First Jet Pack Crossing of the English Channel

Sept. 26, 2008

People have traversed the channel by boat, plane, Chunnel and backstroke, but Yves Rossy chose a less obvious method: jet pack. Rossy jumped from a plane over the coast of France and unfolded an 8-foot-long carbon-fiber wing strapped to his back; four jets on the wing thrust him to England, where he used a parachute to land.


American Air Force Colonel Joseph Kittinger, Jr. adjusts the sun shield on his helmet just prior to jumping from 'Excelsior III,' a balloon-supported gondola 102,800 feet above New Mexico, August 16, 1960. (Photo by US Air Force/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

4) Highest Sky Dive

Aug. 16, 1960

On the edge of Earth's atmosphere, in a helium balloon and a pressure suit, Joe Kittinger readied himself. "I said a little prayer," he says. "Then I jumped." He plummeted at 614 mph, five times the speed of a sky diver. He set records for the highest sky dive (102,800 feet) and the longest free fall (4 minutes 36 seconds).


(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

5) Longest Hang Glide

June 19, 2002

To fly his hang glider 438 miles over Texas, Mike Barber needed skill, endurance—and good weather. "Thermal paragliders are solar-powered," he says. "The sun heats the ground, which creates thermals." Barber used the warm pockets of air so effect.