Espartago (Tago) De Pietro, an American who grew up in Mendoza, Argentina, was in charge of coordinating the operations and logistics for the Perlan Project Phase One in Argentina. He started working in the project early on with Einar Enevoldson and Steve Fossett and was with the team when the current world altitude record was set. Before Perlan, Tago supported Steve’s around the world balloon record attempts. He was also a member of Steve Fossett and Terry Delore’s Challenges team carrying out logistic tasks and dealing with the media for the team in Patagonia, Argentina. Steve and Terry set several world gliding records in speed and distance categories while Tago was their crew.
He was also a member of the team that recovered the world record breaking catamaran, Cheyenne, sailing it from Bahía Blanca (Argentina) to San Diego, California (USA).
During the past four Argentine summer wave seasons, Tago has coordinated logistics and crewed for Perlan 2 scouting trips. His work has been an important factor in the success of Perlan 2 pilots, Jim Payne and Dennis Tito, who have teamed all four years to win OLC world championships in both the distance and speed catagories. Tago holds a degree in Human Resources and Public Relations from the Champagnat University in Mendoza, Argentina. He is Argentina’s most eligible bachelor.