Lawn-Chair Balloonist To Fly In Iraq

A Bend, Oregon, man known for traveling 235 miles in a lawn chair lifted by balloons is planning a two-man journey over Baghdad. Kent Couch was contacted by Fareed Lafta, known as the Iraqi “superhero,” about the flight in Iraq. Couch and Lafta came up with the idea for a double-chair launch to break more records on November 15th, during the Youth Talent Conference in the “Green Zone” of Baghdad. “We’re going to have two guys on one platform,” Couch said. “So we’ll have two lawn chairs connected, and we’ll launch with twice as many balloons.” Couch said they’ll travel 400 miles at 25,000 feet, with oxygen tanks, breaking his elevation record. He said he has one fear – inadvertently floating into Iran.