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Iceaxe
07-10-2007, 02:52 PM
Lawn chair pilot flies with 105 balloons

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 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 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 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, on Thursday confirmed Couch's flight. Wilcox said he flew a plane nearby while Couch traveled, 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."

gonzo
07-10-2007, 03:02 PM
How could this not be on YouTube?

rockgremlin
07-10-2007, 03:02 PM
Fake: Mythbusters proved this was impossible.

Sombeech
07-10-2007, 03:04 PM
He lost his camcorder? Aw, crap. That sucks.

derstuka
07-10-2007, 04:44 PM
Fake: Mythbusters proved this was impossible.

Hey, you are taking to a Mythbuster fanatic Rock, and that myth was CONFIRMED! That guy in LA did it years ago as well. So funny an airline pilot calling in a guy floating at 15,000 feet in a lawn chair!

Kent K25
07-10-2007, 06:44 PM
Fake: Mythbusters proved this was impossible.

Hey, you are taking to a Mythbuster fanatic Rock, and that myth was CONFIRMED! That guy in LA did it years ago as well. So funny an airline pilot calling in a guy floating at 15,000 feet in a lawn chair!

True...we went through the whole story of the original guy in my Fluid Mechanics class and went through and proved it was possible as well...although we did it in a MUCH more boring way than Adam and Jamie did!

rockgremlin
07-11-2007, 07:47 AM
What was that episode where they filled up a bunch of clear plastic tubes with helium, tied Adam to it, and it went nowhere? I thought that was meant to bust this particular myth?

derstuka
07-11-2007, 07:51 AM
What was that episode where they filled up a bunch of clear plastic tubes with helium, tied Adam to it, and it went nowhere? I thought that was meant to bust this particular myth?

that was a different myth Rock. They were trying to have a floating air raft or something in that one. They could not stabilize the helium raft. Plus it was just TOO BIG, and getting too complex. Funny how they were all breathing in helium and talking funny after it was taken down. The lawnchair one, they confirmed that one putting adam in the lawn chair up to 50 -100 feet or so. They never let him go of course, but they could have and he would have been GONE!

tallsteve
07-11-2007, 03:03 PM
I love Mythbusters and what they said was that it depends on the type of balloons used. If you use the grocery store standard birthday party helium balloons it would take somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000 or so.

derstuka
07-11-2007, 03:29 PM
I love Mythbusters and what they said was that it depends on the type of balloons used. If you use the grocery store standard birthday party helium balloons it would take somewhere in the neighborhood of 2000 or so.

The one with the party balloons took over 2000 to lift a 40-50 lb little girl....hell, and adult would take probably 5000. They are talking about using the weather type balloons for lift as the most feasible.

DiscGo
10-11-2012, 05:09 AM
Hey, you are taking to a Mythbuster fanatic Rock, and that myth was CONFIRMED! That guy in LA did it years ago as well. So funny an airline pilot calling in a guy floating at 15,000 feet in a lawn chair!


Correct! There have been several people who have achieved this and MythBusters referenced those individuals.

Here is a small clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=NC-Km7aUjgc

DiscGo
10-11-2012, 05:14 AM
Here is a great example of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GLrr_Xp0qc&feature=related

Byron
10-11-2012, 02:46 PM
For cryin' out loud, the guy had to pop balloons to get down. Imaging going up in a lawn chair with a BB gun in you hands! That's too funny!