Guy flies 193 Miles in Lawn Chair

[Archangel]

Just Awesome.

http://www.foxnews.com/images/299465...ying_chair.jpg

BEND, Ore. — 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 five gallons of water each to act as ballast — he could turn a spigot, release water and rise — 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, short of Idaho but about 193 miles from home.
"When you're a little kid and you're holding a helium balloon, it has to cross your mind," Couch told the Bend Bulletin.
"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 three miles above Los Angeles in a lawn chair lifted by balloons.

Walters had surprised 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 25 miles 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 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 a gallon of water and just eight pounds of 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 airport, said Thursday that Couch definitely did it. Wilcox said he flew a plane nearby while Couch traveled and took photos of 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."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288809,00.html

[Bill Harsey]

No way.

[x SF med]

Originally Posted by Bill Harsey

No way.

I agree with Bill, on the other post...

Bill, think this guy said to his wife - "Hey,honey, check this shit out, think it'll work?" (not that such an erudite individual of breeding such as yourself, or any other Oregonian, would use that phrasing, of course.)

[RTK]

Archangel:

It's only funny because someone did something very similar to this in this thread...


The bigger coincidence is that both these guys have the same name.

[x SF med]

Originally Posted by RTK

Archangel:

It's only funny because someone did something very similar to this in this thread...


The bigger coincidence is that both these guys have the same name.

and that Harsey knows the pilot......

"Hey Bob - can you buzz me with your plane while I fly to Idaho in a lawn chair and ballons? You might get on the news this time, it'll be good for business."

[LibraryLady]

Originally Posted by RTK

The bigger coincidence is that both these guys have the same name.

Originally Posted by x SF med

and that Harsey knows the pilot......

"Hey Bob - can you buzz me with your plane while I fly to Idaho in a lawn chair and ballons? You might get on the news this time, it'll be good for business."

Uh....

Seems highly UNLIKELY! Don't know there's enough balloons in current production to achieve any kind of elevation of the mountain of a man we call Mr Harsey!

LL

[Bill Harsey]

Oregon mans balloons and chair spotted at just under 39,000 Ft. outside of Detroit,
pilot not happy.
Click here for the rest:http://www.local10.com/news/13662608/detail.html

[LibraryLady]

After reading that link, Mr Harsey, methinks there will be one VERY unhappy Oregon wife VERY soon!

Fine for flying unauthorized over 500 feet - she'll know the amount, they got slapped with it last fall
Bill for recovery of chair and balloons out Midwest

Guess he can kiss his next decade's fishing trips goodbye!

LL

[DanUCSB]

Originally Posted by LibraryLady

Guess he can kiss his next decade's fishing trips goodbye!
LL

Yeah, but think of all the money he'll save for the rest of his life in free beers bought for him after telling that story.

[LibraryLady]

Originally Posted by DanUCSB

Yeah, but think of all the money he'll save for the rest of his life in free beers bought for him after telling that story.

True, true... if he's ever let out of the house again!

LL