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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Man flies 300km in lawn chair |
| 2007-07-10 |
| AN American man has flown 300km by tying 105 large helium balloons to his lawn chair. Kent Couch used instruments to measure his altitude and speed, a global position device and about four plastic bags holding 19 litres of water each as a ballast to fly through the Oregon sky, Associated Press reported. Mr Couch, 47, landed in a farmer's field after nine hours in the air. "When you're a little kid and you're holding a helium balloon, it has to cross your mind," Mr Couch said. "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." Mr Couch begain his flight after kissing his wife, Susan, goodbye. As he made about 40km/h, a three-car caravan filled with friends, family and his dog followed him from below. Mr Couch said he could hear cattle and children and even passed through clouds. "It was beautiful - beautiful," he said. He popped enough balloons to set the lawn chair 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 it away. Mr Couch is the latest American to follow Larry Walters, who in 1982 rose almost 5km above Los Angeles in a similar setup. Mr Walters was fined $1746 for violating air traffic rules after a surprised airline pilot contacted a control tower. |
| Posted by:Oztralian |
| #3 He must have watched Danny Deckchair. That was a great movie! |
| Posted by: Angaiger Tojo1904 2007-07-10 23:55 |
| #2 Lawn chair? Feh! It ain't manly stuff unless you use a riding mower. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-07-10 22:04 |
| #1 I have secretly |
| Posted by: Orville W. 2007-07-10 20:53 |