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Oregon man experiences air travel in lawn chair (http://www.nwcn.com/statenews/oregon/stories/NW_070907ORB_lawnchair_travel_KC.5d0b6dc1.html)

Last weekend, Bend gas station owner Kent Couch fulfilled his dream and traveled by lawn chair, suspended from 105 balloons, across Oregon.

I wonder how many balloons would be needed to lift a Patriot? It would be nice to add a "Flight Rated" badge.

I read this at KGW before heading here. He almost made it to Idaho...... That would of been something to see this guy in the air with ballons.

He said he wants to do it again but needs his wife's permission first.

If I were his wife, I would take out a hefty life insurance policy on him.

I read about this earlier today. What a fun story! (and a little bit insane). Inspired, I read up on Larry Walters, the first guy to do this back in 1982. There's a Jeep connection to his story. Sadly, he committed suicide in 1993. Per Wikipedia:

When his friends cut the cord that had tied his lawnchair to his jeep, Walters' lawnchair, which was planned to rise 100 feet above the ground, quickly rose to a height of about 16,000 feet (3 miles); he did not dare shoot any balloons, fearing that he might unbalance the load. He drifted over Long Beach and crossed the primary approach corridor of Long Beach airport.

After spending about 45 minutes in the sky, though, he came to the conclusion that he would have to shoot a few balloons after all; doing so caused him to descend slowly again, until the balloon's dangling cables got caught in a power line, causing a black out in a Long Beach neighborhood for 20 minutes, but also allowing Walters to climb down to the ground again.

Mythbusters did an episode on something similar. I think they may have to revisit it now.

I think many of us would prefer that mode of flying over the hell of commercial air travel today. Something tells me the liquid contents was not water and it probably passed through him before being released.