Lawn chair balloonist flies 235 miles

Cambridge, Idaho – July 7, 2008 — As gas hovers around $4 a gallon, it’s not unusual for people to look to different modes of transportation. But it’s unlikely that the mode Larry Couch used will catch on. On Saturday, Couch, 48, launched himself skyward sitting in a lawn chair that was carried up by 150 giant latex balloons filled with helium. It was his third attempt in as many years to fly more than 300 miles from his gas station in central Oregon to Boise, Idaho, and for the first time, he made it out of state. Couch flew his lawn chair from Bend to Cambridge, Idaho, a town of about 300 located 235 miles away, the Bend Bulletin reported. According to family friend Mark Knowles, Couch landed in a farm field about 4 p.m., and unlike 2007, when Couch landed in a small Eastern Oregon town and his chair and other possessions floated away, this time he successfully hung on to all his gear. "Of course, everyone knows everyone else, so it was a big party out there in the middle of this gravel road," Mark Hetz, a local plumber who was among those who hopped into their cars to chase Couch, told the Oregonian. "Not much happens in Cambridge," Sandi Barton, 58, told the Idaho Statesman. She said about half the town turned out to see Couch. "He came right over our pea field," she said. "He was coming down pretty fast." Couch floated with a parachute for safety, water jugs filled with cherry-flavored Kool-Aid for ballast and a satellite phone to keep in touch with family and supporters following on the ground, the Bend Bulletin reported. The entire cost of his trip was about $6,000 and corporate sponsors covered much of his expenses. Shortly after crossing into Idaho, he popped his remaining balloons, using a BB gun and blow darts, and began to descend. Couch isn’t the first person to fly in a lawn chair powered by helium balloons. In 1982, truck driver Larry Walters gained fame for his trip, but he also got a $1,500 fine for violating air traffic rules.

Sitting on his mother’s shoulders with a balloon of his own, Nethanel Cornilliac, 2, of Bend, points as Kent Couch takes off Saturday morning from his Bend gas station. Anthony Dimaano / The Bulletin Larry Couch’s flight was powered by 150 helium-filled latex balloons. Photo by The Bulletin. Larry Couch lands his lawn chair in Idaho, after traveling 235 miles. Photo by Jake Ruhl / The Oregonian.

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