Oregon man flies 300 km in lawn chair under 105 balloons

Snowgoose · Post by **Snowgoose** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 12:10 pm

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/070710/K071008AU.html

Oregon man flies 300 km in lawn chair taken aloft by 105 giant helium balloons
Published: Tuesday, July 10, 2007 | 12:21 PM ET

BEND, Ore. (AP) - Last weekend, Kent Couch settled down in his lawn chair with some snacks - and a parachute. Attached to his lawn chair were 105 large helium balloons.

Destination: Idaho. With instruments to measure his altitude and speed, a global positioning system device in his pocket, and about four plastic bags holding 19 litres of water each to act as ballast - he could turn a spigot, release water and rise.

With that, Couch headed into the Oregon sky.

Nearly nine hours later, the 47-year-old gas station owner came back to earth in a farmer's field near Union, Ore., short of Idaho but about 310 kilometres from home.

"When you're a little kid and you're holding a helium balloon, it has to cross your mind," Couch told the local Bend Bulletin newspaper.

"When you're laying in the grass on a summer day, and you see the clouds, you wish you could jump on them," he said. "This is as close as you can come to jumping on them. It's just like that."

Couch is the latest American to emulate Larry Walters - who in 1982 rose five kilometres above Los Angeles in a lawn chair lifted by balloons.

Walters managed to surprise an airline pilot, who radioed the control tower that he had just passed a guy in a lawn chair. Walters paid a $1,500 penalty for violating air traffic rules.

It was Couch's second flight.

In September, he got off the ground for six hours. Like Walters, he used a BB gun to pop the balloons, but he went into a rapid descent and eventually parachuted to safety.

This time, he was better prepared. The balloons had a new configuration, so it was easier to reach up and release a bit of helium instead of simply cutting off a balloon.

He took off at 6:06 a.m. Saturday after kissing his wife, Susan, goodbye and petting his Chihuahua, Isabella. As he made about 40 kilometres an hour, a three-car caravan filled with friends, family and the dog followed him from below.

Couch said he could hear cattle and children, and he said he even passed through clouds.

"It was beautiful - beautiful," he told KTVZ-TV. He described the flight as mostly peaceful and serene, with occasional turbulence, like a hot-air balloon ride sitting down.

Couch decided to stop when he was down to four litres of water ballast. Concerned about the rugged terrain outside La Grande, including Hells Canyon, he decided it was time to land.

He popped enough balloons to set the craft down, although he suffered rope burns. But after he jumped out, the wind grabbed his chair, with his video recorder, and the remaining balloons and swept them away. He's hoping to get them back some day.

Brandon Wilcox, owner of Professional Air, which charters and maintains planes at the Bend, Ore., airport, said Thursday that Couch definitely did it. Wilcox said he flew a plane nearby while Couch travelled, and a passenger videotaped the flying lawn chair.

Whether Couch will take a third trip is up to his wife, and Susan Couch said she's thinking about saying no. But she said she was willing to go along with last weekend's trip.

"I know he'd be thinking about it more and more, it would always be on his mind," she said. "This way, at least he's fulfilled his dream."

bandit1 · Post by **bandit1** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 1:58 pm

cheap way to log PIC time I guess.....

actually, multi PIC since he had more than one balloon

Elessar_44 · Post by **Elessar_44** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:15 pm

Well, they use ballons in the Turbine Pilot's Manual to explain the principles of a turbine engine...so I guess he's actually a Multi driver!

sky's the limit · Post by **sky's the limit** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:11 pm

Americans....

Next thing you know, NASCAR will have a baloon racing series...

stl

app flap · Post by **app flap** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:17 pm

he said he was crusing through some clouds... which leads me to ask...

can you drink a cloud?

AdamB · Post by **AdamB** » Tue Jul 10, 2007 9:52 pm

AWESOME

that is all.

Adam B.

Justwannafly · Post by **Justwannafly** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 3:05 pm

LMAO thats the funniest thing I've heard in a while....I can only imagine the airline pilot's faces as they suddenly saw a guy in a lawnchair drinking a margarita lol

Snowroller · Post by **Snowroller** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 3:27 pm

So will he upgrade to a couch ppc for his next flight?

Justwannafly · Post by **Justwannafly** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 3:44 pm

How do you input that into your logbook?

privateer · Post by **privateer** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 4:09 pm

thats awesome! I wonder if anybody has a picture?

gulfan · Post by **gulfan** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 5:25 pm

privateer wrote:thats awesome! I wonder if anybody has a picture?

http://www.kpho.com/image/13655979/detail.html

capt. poopy pants · Post by **capt. poopy pants** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 3:33 pm

so......... this is where all the idiots in this business that i have met started out!!!!!!!

AZN 027 · Post by **AZN 027** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 4:58 pm

isn't there a movie about this? its like an australian movie. Buddy lands in another town and hooks up with this broad. Pretty tight!