Kent Couch makes it to Idaho
That's
Cambridge, Idaho
From
Bend, Oregon
Averaging 20MPH in a Lawn Chair.
From
CNN/Associated Press:
Lawn-chair balloonist drifts from Oregon to Idaho
A man flying across Oregon in a lawn chair rigged with helium-filled balloons has reached his destination in Idaho.
A reporter tracking Kent Couch for the Oregonian newspaper says he landed safely near Cambridge, Idaho, on Saturday afternoon.
The 48-year-old lifted off at dawn from his gas station in Bend, Oregon, and flew with the wind at about 20 mph.
It was Couch's third try at the journey.
Couch took off Saturday morning, riding a green lawn chair supported by a rainbow array of more than 150 helium-filled party balloons.
He kissed his wife and kids goodbye, and patted their shivering Chihuahua, Isabella, before his ground crew gave him a push so he could clear surrounding light poles and a coffee cart.
Then, clutching a big mug of coffee, Couch rose out of the parking lot of his gas station into the bright blue morning sky, cheered by a crowd of spectators.
"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.
"You can hear a dog bark at 15,000 feet."
If this sort of flight sounds somewhat familiar, it is:
Couch was inspired by a TV show about the 1982 lawn chair flight over Los Angeles, California, by truck driver Larry Walters, who gained folk hero fame but was fined $1,500 for violating air traffic rules.
I have been hot air ballooning a few times and it is wonderful for the 30% of the time that the burners are shut off. The other 70% there is this this roaring furnace belching two feet above your head. The party balloons sound like a great idea...
Posted by DaveH at July 5, 2008 6:44 PM