Lawn Chair Balloonist Flies From Oregon to Idaho
by Allie Comeau on July 7, 2008 
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It’s back to reality for most of us today as the long 4th of July weekend comes to a close. Hopefully you had great time and got outside this weekend. The weather was beautiful in most parts of the country… especially in Oregon, where a 48 year-old man took an extraordinary flight.
This extraordinary flight wasn’t in a plane, though… or a hot air balloon. Kent Couch flew more than 200 miles in a lawn chair rigged with helium balloons! That’s right – a lawn chair rigged with helium balloons. Couch’s lawn chair, complete with over 150 party balloons managed to fly 235 miles in 9 hours and cross over into Idaho before landing in a rural area where he caused quite a bit of excitement. But first he had to land – by shooting the balloons with a BB gun to release the helium.
The article on CNN says…
“He takes his BB gun and shoots some balloons to lower himself to the ground. When he hit the ground he released all the little tiny balloons. People were racing down the road with cameras. They were all talking and laughing.”
As for the loony balloonist himself, Couch says he loves the peace of being up in the sky, floating in his lawn chair…
“If I had the time and money and people, I’d do this every weekend,” Couch said before getting into the chair. “Things just look different from up there. You’re moving so slowly. The best thing is the peace, the serenity.”
While his wife calls him “crazy,” Couch just seems to be following a dream. And he’s always well prepared. Besides the BB gun for landing, Couch also uses Kool-Aid as a ballast, carries a parachute (he had to use it on a flight last year), a hook for pulling in the balloons, two GPS tracking systems (one for him and one for his chair in case they get separated), boiled eggs, jerky, and chocolate. What else could a lawn chair balloonist need (besides nerves of steel)?
Maybe Couch is on to something… maybe we should all start commuting by lawn chair balloon to save on gas. Instead of traffic and road rage we could all experience the peace and serenity of floating to work. And imagine how much more colorful (and smog-free) the sky would be…
