A New Lawn Chair Pilot

[RL Anderson]

Folks,

Remember the lawn chair guy in LA? Here is a new one out of Oregon.
Here's the link:

> http://www.komotv.com/news/local/8399237.html

Enjoy

Rick

[Larry Dighera]

On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 07:32:04 -0700, RL Anderson
> wrote in >:

>> http://www.komotv.com/news/local/8399237.html
>
>Enjoy

I loved it! Thanks.

Here's what drew the "pilot" to the sky:


Why would Couch try such a flight?

"When you're a little kid and you're holding a helium balloon, it
has to cross your mind," he told the Bend Bulletin.

"When you're laying in the grass on a summer day, and you see the
clouds, you wish you could jump on them," he told the Bulletin.
"This is as close as you can come to jumping on them. It's just
like that."

[John Galban]

On Jul 10, 7:32 am, RL Anderson > wrote:
> Folks,
>
> Remember the lawn chair guy in LA? Here is a new one out of Oregon.
> Here's the link:
>
> >http://www.komotv.com/news/local/8399237.html
>

Bravo! I was wondering when someone was going to try it again.
At least this guy didn't try it in the busy airspace of the LA basin.
>From the pic and his altitude, It doesn't look like he was a hazard to
navigation. More power to him.

John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)

[Dallas]

On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 07:32:04 -0700, RL Anderson wrote:

> http://www.komotv.com/news/local/8399237.html

Does someone trying something like this need a lighter-than-air category
free balloon class rating certificate to be legal?

--
Dallas

[Gatt]

"RL Anderson" > wrote in message
...
> Folks,
>
> Remember the lawn chair guy in LA? Here is a new one out of Oregon.
> Here's the link:
>
>> http://www.komotv.com/news/local/8399237.html

This is probably the best sentence I'll read all day, (about the previous
lawnchair balloonist.):

"Walters surprised an airline pilot, who radioed the control tower that he
had just passed a guy in a lawn chair with a gun"

-c

[Larry Dighera]

On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 07:32:04 -0700, RL Anderson
> wrote in >:

>Remember the lawn chair guy in LA? Here is a new one out of Oregon.
>Here's the link:
>
>> http://www.komotv.com/news/local/8399237.html



More in-depth coverage and photos here:

http://ktvz.com/Global/story.asp?S=6759982

"It was beautiful -beautiful," he recalled - peaceful and serene -
much like a hot-air balloon ride, but laid-back, not standing up.

He'd used a folding-lamp arm to mount the video camera and get
panoramic views, but that was one of the things that went up, up
and away with the lawn chair and remaining 4-foot balloons.

they're offering a $200 reward for the flying lawn chair and
items' safe return. But he said a GPS unit Couch did have in his
pocket when he landed

Still, if the chair and gear are found, likely somewhere in the
Wallowas, he'd love to get the seven-plus hours of video Couch
shot, with such moments as when he inhaled a bit of the helium to
start talking in that funny, Donald Duck way people sometimes
jokingly do.

[texasflyer]

On Jul 10, 11:01 am, Dallas > wrote:
> On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 07:32:04 -0700, RL Anderson wrote:
> >http://www.komotv.com/news/local/8399237.html
>
> Does someone trying something like this need a lighter-than-air category
> free balloon class rating certificate to be legal?


He's flying under Part 103 regs, wherein an "unpowered" ultralight
aircraft has a max of 155 lbs "dry" weight. Ballast weight is excluded
from that 155lbs in the case of a free-balloon type aircraft.

[Jim Logajan]

Dallas > wrote:
> On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 07:32:04 -0700, RL Anderson wrote:
>
>> http://www.komotv.com/news/local/8399237.html
>
> Does someone trying something like this need a lighter-than-air category
> free balloon class rating certificate to be legal?

If the whole contraption weighs less than 254 pounds empty (excluding his
parachute), then Part 103 applies and no certificate is needed either for
the pilot or the craft.

[Jim Logajan]

RL Anderson > wrote:
> Remember the lawn chair guy in LA? Here is a new one out of Oregon.
> Here's the link:
>
>> http://www.komotv.com/news/local/8399237.html

There was a wonderful full-page-width photo and article on this guy in
today's issue of the Eugene, Oregon Register-Guard newspaper. Very neat.

[texasflyer]

On Jul 10, 11:46 am, Jim Logajan > wrote:
> Dallas > wrote:
> > On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 07:32:04 -0700, RL Anderson wrote:
>
> >>http://www.komotv.com/news/local/8399237.html
>
> > Does someone trying something like this need a lighter-than-air category
> > free balloon class rating certificate to be legal?
>
> If the whole contraption weighs less than 254 pounds empty (excluding his
> parachute), then Part 103 applies and no certificate is needed either for
> the pilot or the craft.

The 254 lb limit is for "powered" ultralight aircraft (i.e.
airplanes, rotorcraft, airships) that use some kind of motor for
forward propulsion.

Unpowered ultralight aircraft (gliders, ballons, etc) have to weight
under 155 lbs, and any fuel needed onboard to create lift (i.e.
propane for a burner) or ballast needed to control buoyancy is not
included in that < 155 lbs.

Believe it or not, there have been a lot more people flying helium
balloon lawnchairs (cluster balloons) around than you hear about in
the media.

See http://www.clusterballoon.org

[Jim Logajan]

texasflyer > wrote:
> On Jul 10, 11:46 am, Jim Logajan > wrote:
>> If the whole contraption weighs less than 254 pounds empty (excluding
>> his parachute), then Part 103 applies and no certificate is needed
>> either for the pilot or the craft.
>
> The 254 lb limit is for "powered" ultralight aircraft (i.e.
> airplanes, rotorcraft, airships) that use some kind of motor for
> forward propulsion.
>
> Unpowered ultralight aircraft (gliders, ballons, etc) have to weight
> under 155 lbs, and any fuel needed onboard to create lift (i.e.
> propane for a burner) or ballast needed to control buoyancy is not
> included in that < 155 lbs.

Oops! Thanks for the gentle correction.

> Believe it or not, there have been a lot more people flying helium
> balloon lawnchairs (cluster balloons) around than you hear about in
> the media.
>
> See http://www.clusterballoon.org

Yup - There is also a related single-envelope hot-air type known as
"cloudhoppers":

http://www.cloudhoppers.org/

[Larry Dighera]

On Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:49:44 -0000, Jim Logajan >
wrote in >:

>
>There was a wonderful full-page-width photo and article on this guy in
>today's issue of the Eugene, Oregon Register-Guard newspaper.

Unfortunately, there is no photo on the web version of the story:

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/07/10/a1.or.lawnchairflight.0710.p1.php?section=nation_w orld