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On July 5th, 2008, Kent Couch embarked on his historic flight. He attached 150 giant party balloons to a lawn chair and took off on a 9 hour, 235 mile flight across his tiny farming community in Cambridge, Idaho. This 48 year old gas station owner really did his homework. He packed a Red Ryder BB gun and a blow gun equipped with steel darts so he could shoot down balloons and start descending. He had 15 jugs, each with a gallon of Cherry Kool-Aid fastened around his chair for ballast. He could raise his altitude by dropping Kool-Aid. He also packed a portable GPS and some lunch. He also packed a parachute in case things went badly. The whole stunt cost about $6,000, mostly for helium. He passed out balloons to the children after he touched down at the end of his flight.

 

What I found even more surprising than the fact that this flight actually worked is that this wasn't the first successful balloon-lawn-chair flight on record. In 1982, a truck driver named Larry Walters flew a lawn chair over Los Angeles, but he was fined $1,500 for violating air traffic rules. It makes me wish I had a lot of helium at my disposal.

he should totally re-do this with some sort of couch set up... do they make lawn couches? if they don't, some one should invent one, and then hire mr. couch to do a publicity run with it.

I forget the name of the movie, but i'm sure this must have been inspired by it. This man is having troubles with his girlfriend and during one of their BBQ gatherings he decided to sit down in a lawn chair and tie giant balloons to it. His friends are all in on it and his girlfriend thought he was just being ridiculous and that it wouldn't work. Well, when his friends got up from sitting on the arm rests (so he wouldn't fly away) he flew away, forgetting the sizzors he was going to use to get back down. On his journey, to who knows where, he gets hit by a fire cracker and falls into a womans back yard where he falls in love.

 Anyways, this guy is clearly unoriginal and having problems with his girlfriend so is on a journey looking for love in a womans back yard.

Wow that sounds like it would actually be a really good movie. Anything involving lawn-chair-balloons has got to be good. It sounds like a lot of fun too.
While his plan wasn't very well thought through, I guess it worked out in the end. Lawn-chair-balloon dating sounds pretty risky, though. Almost as risky as internet dating. You just never know who you will end up with. At least in lawn-chair-balloon dating, you know who you end up with. You don't find out 6 months into the relationship that you're really dating a 50 yr old married woman. But hey, whatever floats your boat.

It wasn't a bad movie anways... I think the name was actually pretty unoriginal like... balloon man or lawn chair man. For a portion of the movie I thought he was going to be floating around the entire time. You have no idea how relieved I was when he got hit by that fire cracker. Hey, when you're girlfriend is cheating on you with a super rich guy and all you do is sell cement... Lawn-Chair-Balloon dating starts looking pretty good...  And as for internet dating... at least those 6 months were beautiful and there were no injuries involved aside from maybe heartache. But hey, whatever floats your lawn chair.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337960/

 Danny Deckchair

Based on a true story, the tale of a cement truck driver named Danny, whose long awaited vacation is cancelled thanks to his scheming girlfriend, Trudy. Danny escapes his grim life in suburban Australia and blasts into the skies in a chair tied with helium balloons. A mighty thunderstorm blows him clean off the map, and spits him out far away over the lush green town of Clarence. In this new town, he rockets into the world of Glenda, the town's only parking cop. While the media back home becomes obsessed with the story of his disappearance, Danny gets to reinvent himself in this new town, and in his great adventure, he discovers a true soulmate in Glenda. Fate catches up with him eventually, as Danny's true identity is revealed and Trudy--now a tabloid celebrity--comes to the idyllic town to claim Danny and drag him back to Sydney. Danny, however, is a changed man; he's discovered what it means to be happy and has found a new self-worth. Saying farewell to Trudy, Danny makes a dynamic re-entry to the town of Clarence--determined to win Glenda back again and embrace his newfound zest for life.

 

So, I forgot a few details and it left out a few things as well.. but I think truck drivers in general like to fly around in Lawn Chairs to find their Glenda. Who wouldn't after watching this movie!? zesty zesty life you!

I'm definitely going to put that one to the top of my movies to watch list. That sounds like such a fun movie. And it's based on real events? I guess the strangest stuff happens in real life. This whole balloon lawn chair idea is sounding like a lot of fun. Know anywhere I can find a lot of balloons? I've always wanted to fly.