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Lance Schliep, an appliance repairman, helped Couch with the latest design, made entirely from items bought at hardware stores and junk from Couch's garage. "It's about as redneck as you can get," Couch said. Lafta, a mountain climber and sky diver, said he shared Couch's childhood dream of floating like a cloud. He sent Couch an email two winters ago after reading about Couch's earlier flights. The flight was a warm-up for plans to fly a tandem lawn chair balloon rig in Baghdad sometime in the future. "My target is to inspire young people, especially in the Mideast," Lafta said. "I want to tell them, `I didn't give up. Keep standing. Smile. This is the way to defeat terrorists.'" Couch said receiving Lafta's email during the winter, at a time he was bored, inspired him to go aloft again. "I never really thought I would do it again," Couch said. "I thought I had had enough excitement. "I started thinking, it sounds fun." They planned to fly over Iraq last year, but ran into problems getting permission from the government. Couch has said he was inspired by a TV show about the 1982 lawn chair flight over Los Angeles by truck driver Larry Walters, who gained urban myth immortality. Couch's first time up was in 2006, when he flew a distance of 99 miles before the balloons started popping. In 2007, he flew 193 miles before running low on helium and landing in the sagebrush of Eastern Oregon.
In 2008, things went more smoothly. After lifting off at dawn July 5 with the help of volunteers, he floated at 35 mph across the high desert, reaching his goal of crossing the Idaho border. That's when he pulled out his trusty BB rifle and shot out enough balloons to land in a pasture outside the farming community of Cambridge, Idaho. Couch was at it again in 2010, racing another lawn chair balloonist in a flight that went about 70 miles. ___ Online: Couch Balloons:
http://www.couchballoons.com/
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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