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OT: And to think that my idea of excitement is a new pipe...
OT: And to think that my idea of excitement is a new pipe...
http :// www .msnbc.msn,com /id/25543640/>1=43001
BEND, Ore. - Using his trusty BB gun to help him return to Earth, a
48-year-old gas station owner flew a lawn chair rigged with
helium-filled balloons more than 200 miles across the Oregon desert
Saturday, landing in a field in Idaho.
Kent Couch created a sensation in the tiny farming community of
Cambridge, Idaho, where he touched down safely in a pasture and was
soon greeted by dozens of people who gave him drinks of water, local
plumber Mark Hetz said.
"My wife works at the City Market," Hetz said. "She called and said,
'The balloon guy in the lawn chair just flew by the market, and if you
look the door you can see him.
"We go outside to look, and lo and behold, there he is. He's flying by
probably 100 to 200 feet off the ground.
"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."
Couch covered about 235 miles in about nine hours after lifting off at
dawn from his gas station riding in a green lawn chair rigged with an
array of more than 150 giant party balloons.
It began after Couch, clutching a big mug of coffee, kissed his wife
and kids goodbye, then patted their shivering Chihuahua, Isabella, on
the head.
After spilling off some cherry-flavored Kool-Aid that served as
ballast, Couch got a push from the ground crew so he could clear light
poles and soared over a coffee cart and across U.S. Highway 20 into a
bright blue sky.
"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.
"Originally, I wanted to do it because of boyhood dreams. I don't know
about girls, but I think most guys look up in the sky and wish they
could ride on a cloud."
Couch's wife, Susan, called him crazy: "It's never been a dull moment
since I married him."
This was Couch's third balloon flight. He realized it would be
possible after watching a TV show about the 1982 lawn chair flight
over Los Angeles of truck driver Larry Walters, who gained folk hero
fame but was
fined $1,500 for violating air traffic rules.
In 2006, Couch 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'm not stopping till I get out of state," he said.
To that end, he ordered more balloons. Dozens of volunteers wearing
fluorescent green T-shirts that said "Dream Big" filled latex balloons
5 feet in diameter, attached them to strings and tied clusters of six
balloons each to a tiny carabiner clip.
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, a parachute in case anything went wrong, a handheld Global
Positioning System device with altimeter, a satellite phone, and two
GPS tracking devices. One was one for him, the other for the chair,
which got away in the wind as he landed last year.
For food he carried some boiled eggs, jerky and chocolate.
Couch flew hang gliders and skydived before taking up lawn-chair
flights. He estimated the rig cost about $6,000, mostly for helium.
Costs were defrayed by corporate sponsors.
http :// www .msnbc.msn,com /id/25543640/>1=43001
BEND, Ore. - Using his trusty BB gun to help him return to Earth, a
48-year-old gas station owner flew a lawn chair rigged with
helium-filled balloons more than 200 miles across the Oregon desert
Saturday, landing in a field in Idaho.
Kent Couch created a sensation in the tiny farming community of
Cambridge, Idaho, where he touched down safely in a pasture and was
soon greeted by dozens of people who gave him drinks of water, local
plumber Mark Hetz said.
"My wife works at the City Market," Hetz said. "She called and said,
'The balloon guy in the lawn chair just flew by the market, and if you
look the door you can see him.
"We go outside to look, and lo and behold, there he is. He's flying by
probably 100 to 200 feet off the ground.
"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."
Couch covered about 235 miles in about nine hours after lifting off at
dawn from his gas station riding in a green lawn chair rigged with an
array of more than 150 giant party balloons.
It began after Couch, clutching a big mug of coffee, kissed his wife
and kids goodbye, then patted their shivering Chihuahua, Isabella, on
the head.
After spilling off some cherry-flavored Kool-Aid that served as
ballast, Couch got a push from the ground crew so he could clear light
poles and soared over a coffee cart and across U.S. Highway 20 into a
bright blue sky.
"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.
"Originally, I wanted to do it because of boyhood dreams. I don't know
about girls, but I think most guys look up in the sky and wish they
could ride on a cloud."
Couch's wife, Susan, called him crazy: "It's never been a dull moment
since I married him."
This was Couch's third balloon flight. He realized it would be
possible after watching a TV show about the 1982 lawn chair flight
over Los Angeles of truck driver Larry Walters, who gained folk hero
fame but was
fined $1,500 for violating air traffic rules.
In 2006, Couch 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'm not stopping till I get out of state," he said.
To that end, he ordered more balloons. Dozens of volunteers wearing
fluorescent green T-shirts that said "Dream Big" filled latex balloons
5 feet in diameter, attached them to strings and tied clusters of six
balloons each to a tiny carabiner clip.
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, a parachute in case anything went wrong, a handheld Global
Positioning System device with altimeter, a satellite phone, and two
GPS tracking devices. One was one for him, the other for the chair,
which got away in the wind as he landed last year.
For food he carried some boiled eggs, jerky and chocolate.
Couch flew hang gliders and skydived before taking up lawn-chair
flights. He estimated the rig cost about $6,000, mostly for helium.
Costs were defrayed by corporate sponsors.
Re: OT: And to think that my idea of excitement is a new pipe...
On Jul 5, 6:53 pm, Bill <wsblev...@hotmail,com > wrote:
> http :// www .msnbc.msn,com /id/25543640/>1=43001
>
> BEND, Ore. - Using his trusty BB gun to help him return to Earth, a
> 48-year-old gas station owner flew a lawn chair rigged with
> helium-filled balloons more than 200 miles across the Oregon desert
> Saturday, landing in a field in Idaho.
>
> Kent Couch created a sensation in the tiny farming community of
> Cambridge, Idaho, where he touched down safely in a pasture and was
> soon greeted by dozens of people who gave him drinks of water, local
> plumber Mark Hetz said.
>
> "My wife works at the City Market," Hetz said. "She called and said,
> 'The balloon guy in the lawn chair just flew by the market, and if you
> look the door you can see him.
>
> "We go outside to look, and lo and behold, there he is. He's flying by
> probably 100 to 200 feet off the ground.
>
> "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."
>
> Couch covered about 235 miles in about nine hours after lifting off at
> dawn from his gas station riding in a green lawn chair rigged with an
> array of more than 150 giant party balloons.
>
> It began after Couch, clutching a big mug of coffee, kissed his wife
> and kids goodbye, then patted their shivering Chihuahua, Isabella, on
> the head.
>
> After spilling off some cherry-flavored Kool-Aid that served as
> ballast, Couch got a push from the ground crew so he could clear light
> poles and soared over a coffee cart and across U.S. Highway 20 into a
> bright blue sky.
>
> "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.
>
> "Originally, I wanted to do it because of boyhood dreams. I don't know
> about girls, but I think most guys look up in the sky and wish they
> could ride on a cloud."
>
> Couch's wife, Susan, called him crazy: "It's never been a dull moment
> since I married him."
>
> This was Couch's third balloon flight. He realized it would be
> possible after watching a TV show about the 1982 lawn chair flight
> over Los Angeles of truck driver Larry Walters, who gained folk hero
> fame but was
> fined $1,500 for violating air traffic rules.
>
> In 2006, Couch 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'm not stopping till I get out of state," he said.
>
> To that end, he ordered more balloons. Dozens of volunteers wearing
> fluorescent green T-shirts that said "Dream Big" filled latex balloons
> 5 feet in diameter, attached them to strings and tied clusters of six
> balloons each to a tiny carabiner clip.
>
> 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, a parachute in case anything went wrong, a handheld Global
> Positioning System device with altimeter, a satellite phone, and two
> GPS tracking devices. One was one for him, the other for the chair,
> which got away in the wind as he landed last year.
>
> For food he carried some boiled eggs, jerky and chocolate.
>
> Couch flew hang gliders and skydived before taking up lawn-chair
> flights. He estimated the rig cost about $6,000, mostly for helium.
> Costs were defrayed by corporate sponsors.
I used to live in that part of Oregon , It does not suprise me that he
did it .....Folks get board up there.. :)
On Jul 5, 6:53 pm, Bill <wsblev...@hotmail,com > wrote:
> http :// www .msnbc.msn,com /id/25543640/>1=43001
>
> BEND, Ore. - Using his trusty BB gun to help him return to Earth, a
> 48-year-old gas station owner flew a lawn chair rigged with
> helium-filled balloons more than 200 miles across the Oregon desert
> Saturday, landing in a field in Idaho.
>
> Kent Couch created a sensation in the tiny farming community of
> Cambridge, Idaho, where he touched down safely in a pasture and was
> soon greeted by dozens of people who gave him drinks of water, local
> plumber Mark Hetz said.
>
> "My wife works at the City Market," Hetz said. "She called and said,
> 'The balloon guy in the lawn chair just flew by the market, and if you
> look the door you can see him.
>
> "We go outside to look, and lo and behold, there he is. He's flying by
> probably 100 to 200 feet off the ground.
>
> "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."
>
> Couch covered about 235 miles in about nine hours after lifting off at
> dawn from his gas station riding in a green lawn chair rigged with an
> array of more than 150 giant party balloons.
>
> It began after Couch, clutching a big mug of coffee, kissed his wife
> and kids goodbye, then patted their shivering Chihuahua, Isabella, on
> the head.
>
> After spilling off some cherry-flavored Kool-Aid that served as
> ballast, Couch got a push from the ground crew so he could clear light
> poles and soared over a coffee cart and across U.S. Highway 20 into a
> bright blue sky.
>
> "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.
>
> "Originally, I wanted to do it because of boyhood dreams. I don't know
> about girls, but I think most guys look up in the sky and wish they
> could ride on a cloud."
>
> Couch's wife, Susan, called him crazy: "It's never been a dull moment
> since I married him."
>
> This was Couch's third balloon flight. He realized it would be
> possible after watching a TV show about the 1982 lawn chair flight
> over Los Angeles of truck driver Larry Walters, who gained folk hero
> fame but was
> fined $1,500 for violating air traffic rules.
>
> In 2006, Couch 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'm not stopping till I get out of state," he said.
>
> To that end, he ordered more balloons. Dozens of volunteers wearing
> fluorescent green T-shirts that said "Dream Big" filled latex balloons
> 5 feet in diameter, attached them to strings and tied clusters of six
> balloons each to a tiny carabiner clip.
>
> 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, a parachute in case anything went wrong, a handheld Global
> Positioning System device with altimeter, a satellite phone, and two
> GPS tracking devices. One was one for him, the other for the chair,
> which got away in the wind as he landed last year.
>
> For food he carried some boiled eggs, jerky and chocolate.
>
> Couch flew hang gliders and skydived before taking up lawn-chair
> flights. He estimated the rig cost about $6,000, mostly for helium.
> Costs were defrayed by corporate sponsors.
I used to live in that part of Oregon , It does not suprise me that he
did it .....Folks get board up there.. :)
Re: OT: And to think that my idea of excitement is a new pipe...
On Sat, 5 Jul 2008 19:48:27 -0700 (PDT), riverside1reed
<riverside1reed@gmail,com > wrote:
>I used to live in that part of Oregon , It does not suprise me that he
>did it .....Folks get board up there.. :)
It wasn't the first time either.
http :// www .snopes,com /travel/airline/walters.asp
On Sat, 5 Jul 2008 19:48:27 -0700 (PDT), riverside1reed
<riverside1reed@gmail,com > wrote:
>I used to live in that part of Oregon , It does not suprise me that he
>did it .....Folks get board up there.. :)
It wasn't the first time either.
http :// www .snopes,com /travel/airline/walters.asp
Re: OT: And to think that my idea of excitement is a new pipe...
riverside1reed <riverside1reed@gmail,com > wrote:
>On Jul 5, 6:53 pm, Bill <wsblev...@hotmail,com > wrote:
>> http :// www .msnbc.msn,com /id/25543640/>1C001
>>
>>
>> Couch's wife, Susan, called him crazy: "It's never been a dull moment
>> since I married him."
....and he has loads of life insurance, so what the hell.
riverside1reed <riverside1reed@gmail,com > wrote:
>On Jul 5, 6:53 pm, Bill <wsblev...@hotmail,com > wrote:
>> http :// www .msnbc.msn,com /id/25543640/>1C001
>>
>>
>> Couch's wife, Susan, called him crazy: "It's never been a dull moment
>> since I married him."
....and he has loads of life insurance, so what the hell.
Re: OT: And to think that my idea of excitement is a new pipe...
Bill wrote:
> http :// www .msnbc.msn,com /id/25543640/>1C001
>
> BEND, Ore. - Using his trusty BB gun to help him return to Earth, a
> 48-year-old gas station owner flew a lawn chair rigged with
> helium-filled balloons more than 200 miles across the Oregon desert
> Saturday, landing in a field in Idaho.
>
I love this kind of stuff; the 400 pound chair (!), the cherry Kool-Aid
ballast, the BB gun, the parachute etc, heheheh!
But he drank a big mug of coffee during a leisurely 9-hour flight?
Whoa, look out below! ;-)
Regards,
Tim Parker ... Samuel Gawith - Best Brown Flake in a Barling poker
--
"Communists are people who read Marx and Lenin. Anti-Communists are
people who *understand* Marx and Lenin." - Ronald Reagan
Bill wrote:
> http :// www .msnbc.msn,com /id/25543640/>1C001
>
> BEND, Ore. - Using his trusty BB gun to help him return to Earth, a
> 48-year-old gas station owner flew a lawn chair rigged with
> helium-filled balloons more than 200 miles across the Oregon desert
> Saturday, landing in a field in Idaho.
>
I love this kind of stuff; the 400 pound chair (!), the cherry Kool-Aid
ballast, the BB gun, the parachute etc, heheheh!
But he drank a big mug of coffee during a leisurely 9-hour flight?
Whoa, look out below! ;-)
Regards,
Tim Parker ... Samuel Gawith - Best Brown Flake in a Barling poker
--
"Communists are people who read Marx and Lenin. Anti-Communists are
people who *understand* Marx and Lenin." - Ronald Reagan
Re: OT: And to think that my idea of excitement is a new pipe...
That is amazing! BB gun, lol. Thanks for the interesting story, Bill.
Buck
That is amazing! BB gun, lol. Thanks for the interesting story, Bill.
Buck
