Lawn chair adventurer takes a flight of fancy

USING his trusty BB air gun to help him return to Earth, a 48-year-old gas station owner flew a lawn chair rigged with helium-filled balloons nearly 400km across the Oregon desert at the weekend, landing in a field in Idaho.

Kent Couch created a sensation in this tiny farming community, where he touched down safely in a pasture after lifting off from Bend, Oregon, and was soon greeted by dozens of people who gave him drinks of water, local plumber Mark Hetz said.

“My wife works at the City Market,” Hetz said. “She called and said, ‘The balloon guy in the lawn chair just flew by the market, and if you look out the door you can see him.’