World Record Flight with Helium Balloons

Kent Couch Flies 235 Miles Across Oregon and Idaho

Not content to be normal, 48-year-old Kent Couch has an unlikely hobby. Couch likes to fly, but not in the conventional sense. The petrol station owner is known for his 'aircraft' which is made up of a lawn chair tied to some helium balloons. This Fourth of July weekend, Couch and his balloons made their way into the record books, with a 235-mile trip across Oregon and Idaho. Here's his story on how it feels to float 16,000 and feet in the air, all in the comfort of his own chair.

I don’t know what the record is, but I sure enjoyed it. It’s a great opportunity to be able to get up there and float through the sky. It’s a serene feeling. One of the things I think about is that I’m blessed to be an American, being in a country where you can do things like this. I wouldn’t say our country is going great, but it’s still nice to be able to have the freedom to say, “I’ve got an idea, I’m going to do it!”

About three years ago I was watching Mythbusters, and they had Adam Savage up there in the chair lifted up by balloons, but tied to a rope. I wanted them to just let him fly. They wouldn’t let him go and dragged him back down, and I thought it was just a crime putting in all the effort and then pulling him in. He could have had the best trip of his life.

That’s when I went to work in the shop and started putting things together. I got a lawn chair, a couple poles mounted to the side and then I drilled a few holes to put the ropes through. We mounted it up like that and then put jugs underneath to hold water for the ballast so I can go up if I come back down. If you have enough water you can do that many times. I made sure I had about 40 gallons of water this time around.

Flying with Balloons

There's no concern pre-flight; I knew we were ready to go. It was just trying to make sure the crew was ready to lift me off and make sure I didn’t get blown into some power lines or into a building.

During flight, the biggest thing that happens is if you’re up there at 16,000 feet, balloons pop randomly because of expansion. I’ll tell you, that sure rattles your cage. It’s like glass up there, and then all of a sudden ‘Pop!’ It scares the heck out of you. No matter how prepared I was, when those pop...wow.

You have to understand that when you’re in that chair, other than a random balloon popping every once in a while, it’s just like sitting in your lawn chair in the backyard. It’s that quiet and still. You wouldn’t know you were moving unless you look at the GPS. If I had my eyes closed I’d think I was in my backyard. It's like sitting on a magic carpet up there.

I don’t know what the record is, but I was going 49 miles per hour, and you wouldn’t even know it. The ground crew couldn’t keep up with me on the roads. The neat thing is the ground doesn’t move very fast because you’re so high up. You get a sense of serenity and peace.

My favorite moment was passing through a cloud from underneath. I’ve been warned about clouds and how dangerous they can be, but I wanted to give it a try. You wouldn’t even know you were in a cloud except that it was all grey out there. That was probably the most exciting part, I always dreamed about that kind of stuff.

The Dangers of Balloon Flying and Future Trips

An other Ballooner’s death ,Reverend Adelir Antonio de Carli', made me understand that it’s not a completely safe endeavor. I felt sad for him. I was following that story as closely as I could, hoping he’d be found alive and to learn from his experience. I’ve yet to figure out what went wrong there because he looked like he was pretty well-prepared.

My first trip I ended up jumping out with my parachute, as I was coming down too fast and I didn’t have any water left. I did not want to jump out of that chair! I’d learned later I jumped out a thousand feet lower than I thought I was, but fortunately my chute opened.

I’m probably not looking to do any more trips, unless I get a sponsorship to do a different country, maybe the English channel or go over to Australia. I think I’m done with it here in Oregon. Sitting for nine hours in a lawn chair is pretty uncomfortable, especially with a parachute tied to your back!