The lawn chair and balloon thread....

[dando]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/05/lawnchair.balloons.ap/index.html


Riding a green lawn chair supported by a rainbow array of more than 150 helium-filled party balloons, Kent Couch took off Saturday in a third bid to fly from central Oregon all the way to Idaho.

This has Spickly written all over it. :gomer:

-Kevin

[Insomniac]

I was reading that this morning and came across this:



http://www.reuters.com/resources/r/?m=02&d=20080422&t=2&i=3978985&w=&r=2008-04-22T171915Z_01_N22281921_RTRUKOP_0_PICTURE0

A Brazilian priest is missing after he drifted out to sea while trying to set a record for a flight using helium-filled party balloons, authorities said on Tuesday.

Father Adelir Antonio de Carli began his flight suspended in a harness-like seat from 1,000 balloons of various colors on Sunday in the southern port of Paranagua. He had intended to fly 20 hours due west but unexpected winds carried the 42-year-old Roman Catholic priest out over the south Atlantic on a southeasterly course.
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2228192120080422?sp=true

That was back in April.

[dando]

Of course the original voyage was this attempt:

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/8399237.html

http://media.komonews.com/images/070709_lawn_chair.jpg


Last weekend, Bend gas station owner Kent Couch settled down in his lawn chair with some drinks and snacks - and a parachute.

Attached to the lawn chair were 105 balloons of various colors, each 4 feet around. Bundled together, the balloons rise three stories high.

Couch carried a global positioning system device, a two-way radio, a digital camcorder and a cell phone. He also had instruments to measure his altitude and speed and about four plastic bags holding five gallons of water each to act as a ballast - he could turn a spigot, release water and rise.

Destination: Idaho.


See? There really is a reason to visit Idaho. :gomer:

-Kevin

[extramundane]

This has Spickly written all over it. :gomer:

Nah, he'd go spend 3x the money on too much equipment, then have to start a thread on how to open up the lawn chair.


:runslikehell:

[emjaya]

I was reading that this morning and came across this:


http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2228192120080422?sp=true

That was back in April.

That did not work out so well.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23976576-23109,00.html

God really does move in mysterious ways.

[Methanolandbrats]

Nah, he'd go spend 3x the money on too much equipment, then have to start a thread on how to open up the lawn chair.


:runslikehell: And he'd need more balloons cause booze is heavy :)

[cameraman]

That did not work out so well.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23976576-23109,00.html

God really does move in mysterious ways.

Not much mysterious about it. Stupidity kills. He took a GPS unit with him but never bothered to learn how to turn it on much-less use it. His last radio communications were him trying to get someone to explain it to him. If he had known how to use it on he would still be alive. The navy had rescue helicopters available they just had no idea where he was.:shakehead

[Methanolandbrats]

That did not work out so well.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23976576-23109,00.html

God really does move in mysterious ways.... especially if you're an idiot.

[Insomniac]

Not much mysterious about it. Stupidity kills. He took a GPS unit with him but never bothered to learn how to turn it on much-less use it. His last radio communications were him trying to get someone to explain it to him. If he had known how to use it on he would still be alive. The navy had rescue helicopters available they just had no idea where he was.:shakehead

This article says the opposite:


The priest, an experienced skydiver, also had a GPS device, satellite phone and buoyant chair with him, Coelho said.

"He last used the phone and GPS on Sunday at 8:45 p.m. to let the Navy know his location," Coelho said. "We haven't heard from him since."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/22/world/main4036309.shtml?source=mostpop_story

[cameraman]

Many reports disagree.


ADELIR ANTONIO DE CARLI (translated): I need to get in touch with the ground crew so that they can teach me how to use this GPS tracking device. It's the only way I will be able to transmit my latitude and longitude co-ordinates in order for them to know where I am.

[G.]

A Priest goes up in a lawnchair with balloons, and you are arguing why he died??

Um, cuz he went up with a lawnchair tied to balloons!

:D







(still a fun topic)

[Insomniac]

Many reports disagree.

Well, that was brilliant. How complex could a GPS unit be?

[Michaelhatesfans]

Of course the original voyage was this attempt:

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/8399237.html

http://media.komonews.com/images/070709_lawn_chair.jpg



"Even at two miles high, Couch said, he could hear cattle lowing and children talking. He heard gunshots, which worried him."

:laugh:Welcome to Eastern Oregon!

[datachicane]

:laugh:Welcome to Eastern Oregon!

:rofl:

Seems like a lot of work to end up in Idaho.

As a teenager my folks were inclined to exile me to Eastern Oregon for the summer (Hermiston, Milton-Freewater, Stanfield, Monument, Richland, etc.).
That looks like the sort of thing I would have cooked up to get back to the Willamette Valley.

If he were a real man he'd pilot that sucker down the Gorge.
:tony:

[Wheel-Nut]

If he were a real man he'd pilot that sucker down the Gorge.

Solar panel and a box fan, he's good to go.

[Michaelhatesfans]

As a teenager my folks were inclined to exile me to Eastern Oregon for the summer (Hermiston, Milton-Freewater, Stanfield, Monument, Richland, etc.).

Probably too late to contact Children's Services now, eh?

[cameraman]

As a teenager my folks were inclined to exile me to Eastern Oregon for the summer (Hermiston, Milton-Freewater, Stanfield, Monument, Richland, etc.).

Monument? What on earth were you doing in Monument? The rest of those towns at least rate a gas station or two. Does Monument even have a stop sign?

[datachicane]

Monument's a booming metropolis compared to Dayville.

My grandfather was the minister for the Presbyterian John Day Valley Parish, so he made a circuit every week through a bunch of little towns that were too small to justify their own. He was a pretty cool guy, so that was much better than being stuck for a month with other relatives behind the Jesse James tavern in Milton-Freewater- that was the original adReNalinE aMPliFied. :saywhat:

[oddlycalm]

:rofl:

Seems like a lot of work to end up in Idaho.

As a teenager my folks were inclined to exile me to Eastern Oregon for the summer (Hermiston, Milton-Freewater, Stanfield, Monument, Richland, etc.).
That looks like the sort of thing I would have cooked up to get back to the Willamette Valley.

If he were a real man he'd pilot that sucker down the Gorge.
:tony:
Yeah, seems like he went the wrong direction to me too...:D My wife and I laughed our tails off at the fact he went from Bend to get to Cambridge, ID. I bet there were some kids in Cambridge wanting to make that run in reverse real bad...:laugh:

Circuit preacher musta been a great gig, glad you got to experience that.

I know Dayville well. We spent a lot of time knocking around the Strawberry Mtns and had friends in John Day and Prairie City. We had some land on Dooly Mtn Southwest of Baker which took us over that way a few times a year.

oc