Lawn-Chair Pilot Plans Record 300-Mile Flight

An Oregon man plans to strap 150 balloons to his lawn chair tomorrow for his third attempt to fly to Idaho, reports the Chicago Tribune. Kent Couch made it 193 miles in last year's effort before landing in scrub land. This year, with corporate sponsorship behind him—and his wife's blessing—he's confident he can make it all the way to Boise.

"The first time, nobody wanted to be involved at all. They were thinking I was a lunatic, I mean a balloon-atic. My friends shunned me. But this time it's different," said Couch, who plans a chair-borne jaunt to Australia if this flight succeeds.  (More helium stories.)