Ok, so check this story out. It seems Kent Couch, a resident of Bend, Oregon, got the crazy idea to tie helium balloons to his lawn chair and see if he could get off the ground. Well, 105 balloons later, and he was airborne!
The 105 balloons were four feet around and all of them together were more than three stories in height. More than enough to give him the lift he needed to carry the chair, himself, some drinks, snacks, two-way radios, a cell phone, and his camcorder. Kent brought along a parachute on this little adventure just in case. He also attached four five-gallon trash bags, filled with water to act as a ballast, allowing him to release some water and control his ascent.
By the time he was done, Kent managed to reach a height of 13,000 feet and traveled 193 miles, in nine hours, across the state before setting down in a farmer's field. His goal was to reach Idaho, which he fell short of, but made a great run at it none the less.
This wasn't his first attempt either. Last Fall he went up as high as 15,000 feet and flew for six hours, but went into a rapid descent after popping balloons with a BB gun, and was forced to bail out and parachute to the ground. Adding the ballast system and being a little more prepared this time paid off well for him.
Can you imagine air planes flying around this guy? Passengers on a 737 rising to cruising altitude glancing out their windows to see Danny Deckchair gliding by would be just hilarious. You have to hand it to Kent, he sure has a sense of adventure about him.
Thanks Gizmodo.
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