Wild Pics: Oregon Man Attempts to Break ‘Lawn Chair Balloon’ Flight Record With Iraqi Adventurer
- Posted on July 14, 2012 at 5:22pm by
Erica Ritz
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Iraqi adventurer Fareed Lafta, right, and Bend, Ore. , gas station owner Kent Couch lift off Saturday, July 14, 2012, from Couch's gas station in Bend, Ore. , as they attempt to fly some 360 miles to Montana. (Photo: AP)
(The Blaze/AP) — An Oregon gas station owner and an Iraqi adventurer have taken to the sky in a pair of lawn chairs suspended from helium-filled party balloons, according to reports.
Cheered on by roughly 1,000 supporters, Kent Couch and Fareed Lafta lifted off Saturday morning from Couch’s Shell gas station in Bend, Ore.
Earlier, volunteers filled 350 5-foot-diameter balloons with helium and tied them to Couch’s homemade tandem lawn chair rig. The rig includes 800 pounds of unconventional ballast — red Kool-Aid in 40-gallon barrels.
Besides a GPS, satellite phone, and parachutes, they will also carry a Red Ryder BB rifle to shoot out enough balloons to come to earth when the time is right.
Lawn chair balloonist Kent Couch leans in for a kiss from a grandson before taking flight with Iraqi adventurer Fareed Lafta, Saturday, July 14, 2012. (Photo: AP)
The two men hope to fly through the night across Idaho and touch down Sunday morning somewhere in southwestern Montana. But winds were carrying them in a southeastern direction shortly after the 10:20 a.m. takeoff.
But the flight isn’t only for the thrill of it. According to the pilots, the expedition is a warm-up for plans to fly a tandem lawn chair balloon rig over Baghdad sometime in the future for charity.
“A lot of people have contacted me over the years about flying, but Fareed was by far the most sincere,” Couch said of his companion. “I went to the orphanages with him and saw the children there. And Fareed also has lots of sky-diving experience. Now I’ll have someone to share my inflight experiences with.”
(Kent Couch and Fareed Lafta lift off from Oregon. (Photo: AP)
Lafta commented: “I want to inspire Iraqis and say we need to defeat terrorists…We don’t need just an Army. We need ideology and to just have fun.”
Couch has wanted to float like a cloud since he was a child, he says, and was inspired by a TV show about the 1982 lawn chair flight over Los Angeles by truck driver Larry Walters, who gained urban myth immortality.
Couch’s first time up was in 2006, when he got only 99 miles before the balloons started popping and he had to bail out.
Couch made news with his previous lawn chair adventures. (Photo: AP)
In 2007, he flew 193 miles before running low on helium and landing in the sagebrush of Eastern Oregon.
In 2008, things went much more smoothly. After lifting off at dawn July 5 with the help of scores of volunteers, he floated at 35 mph across the high desert, reaching his goal of crossing the Idaho border. That’s when he pulled out his trusty BB rifle and shot out enough balloons to come to earth in a pasture outside the tiny farming community of Cambridge, Idaho.
Couch was at it again in 2010, racing another lawn chair balloonist in a flight that went about 70 miles.
This time he hopes to set a world record. The current record listed by Guinness for the longest duration flight by helium balloons is held by Jonathan Trappe for a flight of 13 hours, 36 minutes, 57 seconds over North Carolina in April 2010.
“It’s about as redneck as you can get,” Couch commented, adding that there is “perfect peace up there.”
Check out this promo for “Balloons Over Baghdad:
UPDATE:
From the Associated Press:
About six hours into their flight, Kent Couch and Fareed Lafta started to descend from an altitude of 10,000 feet because of the weather, flight organizer Mark Knowles told The Associated Press.
The website tracker showed them about five miles south of the town of Prineville, about 30 miles northeast of their starting point. The pair initially floated about 40 miles north before winds sent them back south, then east, the direction they wanted to go.
“Thunderstorms are around them,” Knowles said by cellphone. “We’ve got visual contact. I can’t see their faces.”
Update:
Kent Couch and Fareed Lafta were about seven hours into their flight Saturday when they were forced to descend, coming down near a reservoir about 30 miles (48 kilometres) east of their starting point. But after they scrambled out of the contraption, it floated up again, flight organizer Mark Knowles said.
“They came down hard,” Knowles said by cellphone. “The craft went back up. It’s sitting up in the sky right above us.”
Earlier on Saturday, about 90 volunteers and several hundred onlookers counted down and then cheered as the pair lifted off from Couch’s Shell gas station. The duo safely cleared a two-story motel, a coffee stand and a light post.
“The interesting thing is, anybody can do this,” Couch, the veteran of several lawn chair balloon flights, said before the flight. “They don’t have to sit on the couch thinking, ‘I should have done it.’ They can do it.”
Lafta, a mountain climber and sky diver, said he had shared Couch’s childhood dream of floating like a cloud. He sent Couch an email two winters ago after reading accounts of Couch’s earlier flights.
“I want to inspire Iraqis and say we need to defeat terrorists,” Lafta said. “We don’t need just an Army. We need ideology and to just have fun.”
Volunteers filled 350 5-foot (1.5-meter) diameter red, white, blue and black balloons with helium and tied them to Couch’s homemade tandem lawn chair rig. The balloons were arranged in bunches to represent the colours of the U.S. and Iraqi flags. An American flag flew from the bottom of the framework supporting the chairs.
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Comments (51)
toto
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 8:56pmGood for them! Love it!
Report Post »Just-a-bubba
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 1:25pmAint no duct tape at all on them baloons. It’s a Farcee or maybe a counterfit. They might of used wd40.
Report Post »NOT A CRAZY
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 12:18pmYou see the little bar that says report post? All you have to do is click on that and then write spam in the box that opens and report it and they will take it down. Wouldn’t that have been easier than whining about it?
Report Post »pishydish
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 11:53amthe fact the story doesnt reference the very funny movie “Danny Deckchair” with Rhys Ifans and Miranda Otto (Australian Flick)–is a travesty–not to say this guy got the idea from the movie–but this type of stunt has already gone Hollywood (or Sydney if you prefer)
Report Post »OneTermPresident
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 9:53am“It’s about as redneck as you can get,”… The misuse of the term continues. Redneck was a term originally used to describe union workers who wore red scarfs around their necks so people knew who they were.
Jase
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 11:31amI’ve never heard that version, I’ve always understood that it derived from white farmers who got sunburned necks from working in the fields all day. But I do agree that it is often misused, along with the word ‘ghetto’.
Report Post »NOT A CRAZY
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 12:16pmI guess Oneterm hasn’t heard that the meaning of words can change over time. What does gay mean to you?
Report Post »MsMonsoon
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 12:29pmWhat then is a clod-hopper?
Report Post »steveo427
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 7:25pmOk, who deleted my post and why?? I merely stated the truth…. Are you really that thin skinned?
Report Post »I didn’t say anything offensive, I spoke the truth. If you are the one who deleted my post at least have the balls to tell me why? what did I say that offended you?
thehormonalhillbilly
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 9:10amI beg to differ, but beings as I am a redneck myself, this stunt is NOT as redneck as you can get.
Report Post »NOT A CRAZY
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 12:13pmI agree. Filling black trashbags with helium and hanging under them in a broken plastic lawn chair would be much more redneck. And I should know.
Report Post »NOT A CRAZY
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 12:20pmDon‘t you think they are flying at night so that true redneck’s don’t shoot them down?
Report Post »TrueSoundsOfLiberty
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 12:48pmI agree this isn’t redneck at all. It doesn’t include Coors Lite and incest with ones daughter.
Report Post »RRFlyer
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 9:08amWhat does this have to do with balloons? Don’t we get enough SPAM?
Report Post »randy
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 9:07amthe expedition is a warm-up for plans to fly a tandem lawn chair balloon rig over Baghdad sometime in the future.
Baghdad? Iraq right?
Something tells me that might now end well…
Report Post »Cha-Cha
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 8:30amThis contraption looks like the perfect vehicle for the Mooch to take her many vacations with. The tree huggers will love it as it doesn’t pollute or make any noise.
Report Post »mtnvortex
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 7:29amThis reminds me of Gonzo in the Muppet Movie. heh…heh…I think it was Gonzo, anyway.
Report Post »hillbillyinny
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 7:12amHuh, and I thought there was a SHORTAGE of helium, who knew it was all a plot so these guys would have enough. . .
Report Post »LameLiberals
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 5:05amInspire and defeat the terrorist.
Report Post »__
The terrorist is one of the two men sitting in that contraption.
Wyatt's Torch
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 9:08amDo you think he hijacked the contraption?
Report Post »bikerr
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 2:57amPerfect peace?
Report Post »Master_and_Commander
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 11:30pmToo bad, Carl Fredricksen already broke the world record when he launched his house into the air… haha
Report Post »Truthnotpolitics
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 10:58pmWas actually there in person for the launch today. They were very well prepared, with GPS and weather datalink, oxygen, and communication gear. They also wore parachutes. I salute these two individuals. Where‘s everyone’s sense of adventure? Don’t be a stick in the mud. Wishing them a successful journey. They plan to do this in Iraq to bring awareness to Iraqi orphans….a noble cause.
Report Post »1casawizard
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 12:02amSounds good to me. I get tired of the hate mess that is everywhere you look.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 8:21pmReviving the first Darwin Award stunt.
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 8:28pmhttp://www.darwinawards.com/stupid/stupid1998-11.html
Report Post »mottdahoop
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 1:13amI understand what you are saying, but I see it as winning the big b@lls contest. We can mock these guys, but darn, I am seriously impressed. No way in heck I would ever do that!
Report Post »RJJinGadsden
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 10:30amMOTTDAHOOP, Agreed, I wouldn’t do it either. Considering the major hoopla that went on with the original Lawn Chair Larry back in 1982, it was his Darwin Award memory that popped into my head when I read this story.
Report Post »sarcasticus
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 8:06pmYou’ll shoot your eye out, kid!!
Report Post »battles
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 7:45pmHope they don’t accidentally land in DC or at an airport. That Red Ryder will get them life.
Report Post »RossPoldark
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 7:21pmYup, its all fun and games…until someone gets hurt. My quess if this stunt doesnt work is more government regulation. I can just see it now: Lawn Chairs will have to have warning labels cautioning people that these are only to be used for seditary devices and are not to be used for flight or other travel purposes. Baloons will also have to come with warning labels limiting them to home party, events or parking lot car sale advertisement purposes only. The Red Rider BB gun will also come with a warning label….OH it already does…Careful or you might shot your eye out.
Report Post »RossPoldark
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 8:29pmSorry for typos. Here is the corrected version. “Yup, its all fun and games…until someone gets hurt. My quess is, if this stunt doesn’t go well, will be more government aviation regulation. I can just see it now, lawn Chairs will have to have warning labels cautioning people, that these are only to be used for sedentary devices and not as aircraft, or other means of human transportation purposes. Balloons will also have to come with warning labels limiting them to home party events or parking lot car sale advertisement purposes, and again, not to be used as means of air travel. The Red Rider BB gun will also come with a warning label….OH it already does…Careful or you might shoot your eye out. Question. If he shoots one balloon with Red Rider BB gun, couldn’t the BB take out other balloons?
Report Post »RamonPreston
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 11:14pmIf you shoot your eye out, your holding it the wrong way.
Report Post »DeltaCharlieCain
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 7:00pmI used to be an adventurer like these guys, but then I took an arrow in the knee.
Report Post »SovereignSoul
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 7:24pmLittle Big Horn?
Report Post »SovereignSoul
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 7:27pmI was going to say Battle of Wounded Knee, but that seemed too easy.
Report Post »Nathaniel Horn
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 2:08amThat’s from a computer game called Skyrim. It’s a big joke all over YouTube… :) Smart asses.
Report Post »ThankBabyJesus
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 6:47pmAnyone else thinking of the movie UP? ^_^
Report Post »RRFlyer
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 9:09amNope
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 6:28pmPursuing your dreams without the interference of the government. WONDERFUL!
Report Post »Coach Ted Moulmy
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 9:23pmBetter for them to try it now before Big Sis bans it….
Report Post »RamonPreston
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 6:15pmWàn Hǔ launched himself in a chair ca. 1500 and still hasn’t come down. Beat that record, guys!
Report Post »BOMUSTGO
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 6:08pmPeople will do anything these days just to avoid getting frisked by a TSA agent.
Report Post »ObserverOnTheHill
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 8:22pmFunny.
Do I see a business opportunity here ? Nah, the regulations and licensing would kill us.
Report Post »Pigpen
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 6:04pmAwesome! I live in Utah, so I am just ECSTATIC that an Iraqi National is going to fly over my house in a home made flying contraption that he inexcplicably has the skills to construct from common household materials!
WTF! Don’t worry about the white powder coming from the lawnchairs, folks! You are a racist if you do! And besides, the balloons are RED, WHITE, and BLUE! Do you see that big American Flag? Everything is JUST FINE!
Report Post »RamonPreston
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 6:17pmI wonder if we had a flag painted on Fat Man and Little Boy.
Report Post »burnteye86
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 6:20pmYeah, that IS awesome. And the Red Ryder BB guns are a nice touch.
Report Post »Pigpen
Posted on July 14, 2012 at 6:25pmOh, yeah, you’re right, Ramon, you’re right. Maybe getting Anthraxed by Messrs. Couch & Laffa is what my grandfather deserves for having the brass to come home from his WWII Pacific Tour !!! That’ll teach us R0UND-EYES to use nuclear weapons on the Imperial Emperor’s fanatics !!! I am so glad that us R0UND-EYED BARBARIANS have sensible people like you to point out these moral-equivalencies for us!
And speaking of non-sequiturs, YTF can these two yahoos launch this jalopy over our skies to cheers and praises, but the FBI comes cruising out to our ranch whenever we launch an Estes Rocket too d@mn high for the FAA’s tastes?
Report Post »LDSmommy
Posted on July 15, 2012 at 3:13amPIGPEN-That was really funny!
Report Post »Most of us Oregonians ROCK…wait, ‘cept *all* the liberals.