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Bad Weather Brings Down Lawn Chair Balloonists
Kent Couch and Fareed Lafta had their dreams of setting a world's record for the longest two-man cluster balloon flight dashed by bad weather and not kids with bb guns as you might expect. The men tied 350 balloons to lawn chairs and planned on flying from Bend, Oregon to Montana. The pair flew for about 30 minutes before having to land. From the article: "A post at the Facebook page for the project said wind had turned the balloonists around and pushed them back toward the town of Prineville, Oregon, and that thunderstorms heading toward the area were 'simply too much' for the balloons."
Last time I was through that part of the state there was really violent storms here and there, power was out in Sisters, some guy got struck by lightning near John Day...not the brightest idea, going aloft during electrical storm season.
http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/intelligenttravel/2011/03/strange-planet-real-life-up-ho-1.html
http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/upinspired-floating-house-14
It even had a real aviation tail number N878UP Experimental.
People who do this kind of stuff make me wonder whether or not evolution has even started happening yet.
They had parachutes, so to me it seems no more dangerous than sky diving.
My home state, filled with some of the most "interesting" people you might imagine, for better or worse.
Also home of the OSDL and OSCON, the largest naked bike ride, and gorgeous natural beauty.
Missed his shot at glory and fame with this one.
A guy tried this before with weather balloons and got up to 16,000 ft. Apparently he crossed over into LAX's landing path and eventually landed on some power lines. He survived and was fined by the FAA.
Sure it is. I believe Larry Walters won a Darwin Award for his contribution to the genome by not procreating. With these guys, though, we may already be screwed...do they have kids yet?
wonder whether or not evolution has even started happening yet.
It's not as bad as the summary sounds. They had the rigs outfitted a little better than just an aluminum chair duct-taped to some ballon strings. Also, both of them had parachutes in case of emergency.
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One of them was an experienced skydiver, and they were doing it in part to raise funds for orphans in Iraq, so yeah, you kinda look like an ass making that comment now (no offense, I'm sure you didn't know that). And since you have a ton of balloons, it's actually less risky in a way than most lighter-than-air flight, since a few balloons bursting will mean a slow gentle fall, not a rapid descent. Obviously, you don't want to let go of all of them, but if you do, thats why you carry a parachute (which they were).
"None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
Very patriotic of them to choose to design their balloons to look like the flag of the greatest country on earth. The Dutch people salute them!
Lucky for them the winds weren't severe of them to give tribute to the French as well.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
when asked by a reporter why he had done it, Walters replied, "A man can't just sit around."
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Hot air balloons can not burst. If there is a hole they simply make a gentle descent, unlike helium balloons that do burst. That is why hot air balloons have been popular with the military in the past, they can not be shot down easily.
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
There was an episode of McGyver where he climbed out of the basket of a hot air balloon to duct tape a map by its corners to cover some bullet holes in the balloon. So obviously having a few finger sized holes in the balloon is riskier than that 10 foot diameter hole in the bottom.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
I agree wholeheartedly. We could apply it to comments whose authors clearly jumped to conclusions.
We should also have a "knowledgeable people who use their practical skills to attempt an idea that seems insane to uninformed bystanders" tag, but that's not as short and appealing.
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
Walters' flight was successful and non-fatal, though he did commit suicide later in life. You might be thinking of Adelir Antonio de Carli.
when asked by a reporter why he had done it, Walters replied, "A man can't just sit around."
But apparently he can just sit around.... at 16000 feet.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
You're using an episode of McGyver to support a technical point?
Tell me, did you ever try and find the phone number for the A-team when you were younger?
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
What brain-dead gas supplier sold these idiots enough helium to attempt this stunt? Don't they know that there's a worldwide helium shortage - that even now, a new restriction of He allocation has cut gas levels available to suppliers to 50-70% of last year's levels, and He prices on what's left have doubled?
Those of us who use helium for our jobs don't appreciate it being wasted on this crap. If these morons want to float on lawn chairs, use hydrogen - that'll get even more people watching them, and maybe when the first two or three go up in fireballs people will stop doing this idiotic stunt.
You mean sort of like "Overrated" for "morons" and "Underrated" or "Insightful" for "knowledgeable people who use their practical skills to attempt an idea that seems insane to uninformed bystanders"?
"But this one goes to 11!"
Well, without failed forks, false starts, and unfruitful developments evolution would not work...
When Homo erectus appeared on the evolutionary scene I'm sure there were plenty of knuckle walkers commenting things like "Oh, walking around with his head up he'll miss all the juicy bugs on the ground." and "Standing that tall he will run into a tree limb and kill himself." Of course in those days moderation was a rock to the head so they may not have expressed their opinions to others.
When the failures stop, evolution has stalled. Progress is made by people that are willing to do something, even if it turns out sub-optimally.
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
Hannibal's cell phone number: 555-6162.
You are all a bunch of idots.
While I believe a good dose of politeness in commenting is generally a good idea, somehow "Overrated", "Underrated" or "Insightful" does not designate the proper level of stupidity associated with lawn-chair ballooning. Of course, an article about flying lawn furniture would not normally appear on Slashdot (unless Linux was involved). I think this is the first "Troll" label I've gotten. Feels creepy.
Sorry, but gray text on gray background is making my eyes bleed.
Nope, Walter received a Darwin Award despite surviving.
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
Apparently only a "Darwin Awards At-Risk Survivor" award, though, which is really just an honourable mention.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
Nobody in the USofA uses .303 - thats a British caliber.
Thirty ought six (30-06) would be the round of choice. Though 7.62x54R is very cheap.as are the bolt action Moisin-Nagant rifles that fire it.
Please explain where the stupidity lies, then. There's an experienced balloonist and experienced skydiver, both familiar with the characteristics of the atmosphere at the expected altitudes, who have carefully planned and executed a fundraising spectacle after a year of planning and preparation.
Just because something's inefficient or outwardly weird does not make it stupid. This coming weekend I'll be watching people make and set off explosives for the fun of it, in a controlled environment following more-than-adequate safety procedures. The worst injury I've heard of in a decade (or more... I've only recently gotten involved myself) of such events is a "sunburn" from a very bright thermite reaction.
Here's a few more equally-stupid ideas:
Humans are stupid creatures, indeed!
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
Well, clearly the bullet holes were dangerous enough to risk climbing out of the gondola to attempt a repair. And clearly it had nothing to do with the air-tightness of the balloon because of the giant hole in the bottom where the hot air gets in, and because he only taped the map by the corners as opposed to sealing it all the way around the edges...
Perhaps it was to prevent the light from the burners from giving away his position.
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Yeah, lets create a crisis by acting thoughtlessly (foolishly) so then reality forces us to have to face the problem.
The Market is far from reality, it merely is forced by hard realities eventually just like everything else is.
One could say the exact thing about a communist solution-- when it becomes scarce people just get smaller rations (except for a few corrupt people who get more than others.) Similar result with both opposing systems.
I would tax it so it lasts longer; maybe put that money into research... fusion perhaps... Ideally you run out around the time you can replace it; estimating when that day will come is not a simple guess... Even if you are wrong, you still delay shortages.
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Jeez, everyone just land on these guys already. I'm sure you'all are perfect.
People who do this kind of stuff make me wonder whether or not evolution has even started happening yet.
They had parachutes, so to me it seems no more dangerous than sky diving.
Well, it's also not as dangerous as playing Russian Roulette with a single barrelled shotgun, but that doesn't mean it's a sensible idea.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Also, both of them had parachutes in case of emergency.
Pussies.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Hot air balloons can not burst. If there is a hole they simply make a gentle descent, unlike helium balloons that do burst. That is why hot air balloons have been popular with the military in the past, they can not be shot down easily.
That is true but irrelevant, as they were using helium filled balloons according to TFA.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
I agree wholeheartedly. We could apply it to comments whose authors clearly jumped to conclusions.
We should also have a "knowledgeable people who use their practical skills to attempt an idea that seems insane to uninformed bystanders" tag, but that's not as short and appealing.
They weren't that knowledgeable or they wouldn't have had to abandon their attempt after 30 minutes because they hadn't read the weather forecast.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
A "Morons" tag like Fark.
In slashdot terms, these geniuses are elite hackers well on the way to creating balloon-based space flight, plus they're anti-authoritarian so they get the knee-jerk anti-government vote too.
No wonder you were modded troll. You're lucky they didn't colour in the balloon pattern on GIMP or you'd be accused of being Microsoft shill too..
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Here's a few more equally-stupid ideas:
Walking on a taut cable suspended between two poles or buildings high above the ground
Well from my point of view, that IS stupid
Your other examples are tasks which involve calculated risks, but which have a reason to be done in the first place.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Rope-walking (and lawn-chair flying) is also calculated risk, based on the skill of the person doing it, and the reason for doing it is to create a spectacle that will draw money to a particular organization.
You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.