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Lawn Chair Ballooner Lands Safely in Idaho

Maybe the secret to helium balloon-powered flight is staying over land. An Oregon gas station owner named Kent Couch made a 9-hour flight from his hometown of Bend, Oregon east to Cambridge, Idaho this weekend. His tricked out flying lawn chair was loaded up with a BB gun for popping balloons, a parachute, three GPS devices, a satellite phone and, obviously, beef jerky.

Couch's journey sounds much easier than the one that tragically ended earlier this year, when a Brazilian priest disappeared while coasting over the Atlantic in his own helium balloon rig.

The fortunate flyer financed his $6,000 trip with the help of Google Maps, and Couch plans to have a detailed route map up on his website soon, pulled from the GPS data he collected along the way. Also sponsoring his flight? The folks behind the Spot satellite tracking device.

Related Stories:
· Oregon Man Completes Flight of Fancy [AP, via Google]
· Super Dangerous Travel: Balloon Ride Goes Awry in Brazil [Jaunted]
· Dangerous Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Kent Couch]