It's Weird and very bizarre
Weird pictures, stories, stupid videos, crazy images, stunts, bizarre videos
Why??
Don't try this at home! Kent Couch is underway onboard a lawnchair and party helium balloons hoping to make it from Oregon to Idaho. You can track his progress here. In the "no kidding" category, this disclaimer can be found on Kent's website: Cluster Ballooning is inherently risky. Kent Couch and Smart Solutions assume NO RESPONSIBILITY for the use or mis-use of information provided on this website.
A Brazilian priest tried the same thing in April. His body was just recovered off the coast of Rio.
Man flying lawn chair lifted by helium balloons
By JEFF BARNARD, Associated Press Writer
Sat Jul 5, 1:03 PM ET
Riding a green lawn chair supported by a rainbow array of more than 150 helium-filled party balloons, Kent Couch took off Saturday in a third bid to fly from central Oregon all the way to Idaho.
Couch 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've moving so slowly. The best thing is the peace, the serenity.
"You can hear a dog bark at 15,000 feet."
"He's crazy," said his wife, Susan. "It's never been a dull moment since I married him."
Couch hoped to ride the prevailing wind to the area of McCall, Idaho, about 230 miles east. He travels at about 20 mph.
Each balloon gives four pounds of lift. The chair was about 400 pounds, and Couch and his parachute 200 more.
"I'd go to 30,000 feet if I didn't shoot a balloon down periodically," Couch said.
For that job he carried a Red Ryder BB gun and a blow gun equipped with steel darts. He also had a pole with a hook for pulling in balloons, Global Positioning System tracking devices, an altimeter and a satellite phone.
It was his third flight. In 2006, he had to parachute out after popping too many balloons. And last year he flew 193 miles to the sagebrush of northeastern Oregon, short of his goal.
"I've not stopping 'till I get out of state," he said.
Couch had to dump some of the 45 gallons of cherry Kool-Aid he carried as ballast before he was able to disappear into the distance. "We wanted some color, and it kind of reminded me of kid days," he said of the ballast.
Couch was inspired by a TV show about the 1982 lawn chair flight over Los Angeles by truck driver Larry Walters, who gained folk hero fame but was fined $1,500 for violating air traffic rules.
Dozens of volunteers wearing fluorescent green T-shirts with the slogan "Dream Big" filled Couch's 5-foot-diameter latex balloons and fastened them to the rig carrying his chair. A few balloons popped, and one got away.
"I think it's wonderful he's got guts enough to do it," said retired commercial pilot Bob Banta. "I've owned 12 little airplanes, but I've never done anything like this."
Couch, a veteran of hang gliding and sky diving, estimated the rig cost about $6,000, mostly for helium. Costs were defrayed by corporate sponsors.
Brazilian priest Father Adelir de Carli
July 06, 2008 01:24am
THE body a Brazilian priest who floated off tied to 1000 giant party balloons has been recovered about 100km off the Brazilian coast, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports.
Father Adelir de Carli went missing in April while attempting to fly with the party balloons tied to a chair.
The body was recovered by a tugboat crew off Rio de Janeiro state, DPA reports .
Police said clothing, a rucksack and shoes left little doubt that the body was that of the priest but DNA tests would be conducted to provide final proof.
Father de Carli, 42, was trying to promote religion, draw attention to his campaign to provide rest stops for long-distance truck drivers, and to enter Guinness World Records.
A known adventurer, he had already made a previous similar flight with 500 balloons in January that reportedly took him as high as 5000m.
But bad weather time pushed his makeshift contraption out to sea off Brazil's southern coast, and in his last contact with police he said he was encountering problems.
A Brazilian priest tried the same thing in April. His body was just recovered off the coast of Rio.
Man flying lawn chair lifted by helium balloons
By JEFF BARNARD, Associated Press Writer
Sat Jul 5, 1:03 PM ET
Riding a green lawn chair supported by a rainbow array of more than 150 helium-filled party balloons, Kent Couch took off Saturday in a third bid to fly from central Oregon all the way to Idaho.
Couch 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've moving so slowly. The best thing is the peace, the serenity.
"You can hear a dog bark at 15,000 feet."
"He's crazy," said his wife, Susan. "It's never been a dull moment since I married him."
Couch hoped to ride the prevailing wind to the area of McCall, Idaho, about 230 miles east. He travels at about 20 mph.
Each balloon gives four pounds of lift. The chair was about 400 pounds, and Couch and his parachute 200 more.
"I'd go to 30,000 feet if I didn't shoot a balloon down periodically," Couch said.
For that job he carried a Red Ryder BB gun and a blow gun equipped with steel darts. He also had a pole with a hook for pulling in balloons, Global Positioning System tracking devices, an altimeter and a satellite phone.
It was his third flight. In 2006, he had to parachute out after popping too many balloons. And last year he flew 193 miles to the sagebrush of northeastern Oregon, short of his goal.
"I've not stopping 'till I get out of state," he said.
Couch had to dump some of the 45 gallons of cherry Kool-Aid he carried as ballast before he was able to disappear into the distance. "We wanted some color, and it kind of reminded me of kid days," he said of the ballast.
Couch was inspired by a TV show about the 1982 lawn chair flight over Los Angeles by truck driver Larry Walters, who gained folk hero fame but was fined $1,500 for violating air traffic rules.
Dozens of volunteers wearing fluorescent green T-shirts with the slogan "Dream Big" filled Couch's 5-foot-diameter latex balloons and fastened them to the rig carrying his chair. A few balloons popped, and one got away.
"I think it's wonderful he's got guts enough to do it," said retired commercial pilot Bob Banta. "I've owned 12 little airplanes, but I've never done anything like this."
Couch, a veteran of hang gliding and sky diving, estimated the rig cost about $6,000, mostly for helium. Costs were defrayed by corporate sponsors.
Body of 'balloon priest' found
Brazilian priest Father Adelir de Carli
July 06, 2008 01:24am
THE body a Brazilian priest who floated off tied to 1000 giant party balloons has been recovered about 100km off the Brazilian coast, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports.
Father Adelir de Carli went missing in April while attempting to fly with the party balloons tied to a chair.
The body was recovered by a tugboat crew off Rio de Janeiro state, DPA reports .
Police said clothing, a rucksack and shoes left little doubt that the body was that of the priest but DNA tests would be conducted to provide final proof.
Father de Carli, 42, was trying to promote religion, draw attention to his campaign to provide rest stops for long-distance truck drivers, and to enter Guinness World Records.
A known adventurer, he had already made a previous similar flight with 500 balloons in January that reportedly took him as high as 5000m.
But bad weather time pushed his makeshift contraption out to sea off Brazil's southern coast, and in his last contact with police he said he was encountering problems.
Related Articles
Featured Video Clip
Comments
Be the first to leave a comment!
About the Author
15
Kudos
+ Kudo
Celebrity Spotlight
Top Entertainment Articles
 |
Zimbio Caption Contest: Enter and Win $25 at Amazon.com!
This is possibly the easiest photo to caption. It practically writes itself.
|
 |
Twilight’s Christian Serratos Gets Naked For PETA
Serratos poses naked for the 'I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur' campaign.
|
 |
100 Best Bikini Bodies
Click here for the best way to spend 10 minutes.
|
Popular Entertainment Zines
