Man flies 193 miles in lawn chair

BEND, Oregon (AP) -- Last weekend, Kent Couch settled down in his lawn chair with some snacks -- and a parachute. Attached to his lawn chair were 105 large helium balloons. Destination: Idaho. Balloons suspend Kent Couch in a lawn chair as he floats in the skies near Bend, Oregon, on Saturday. With instruments to measure his altitude and speed, a global positioning system device in his pocket, and about four plastic bags holding five gallons of water each to act as ballast -- he could turn a spigot, release water and rise -- Couch headed into the Oregon sky. Nearly nine hours later, the 47-year-old gas station owner came back to earth in a farmer's field near Union, short of Idaho but about 193 miles from home. It was Couch's second flight. In September, he got off the ground for six hours. ... he used a BB gun to pop the balloons, but he went into a rapid descent and eventually parachuted to safety. This time, he was better prepared. The balloons had a new configuration, so it was easier to reach up and release a bit of helium instead of simply cutting off a balloon.