Is it a change in the wind asks I?

[Moonliner]

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.

He managed to fly 193 miles in his lawn chair.

Totally reckless, not very well planned, a very large lack of respect for his own safety and arguably the safety of others.

Kent Couch is my hero.

However he's not really what I'm posting about.

What caught my attention was the coverage he received from Good Morning America today. Diane was positively gushing over this guy. Asking what made him do it, how it went etc. Not once did she ask any oh so typical fear mongering questions like "What if you caused a plane to crash" or "Did you clear this wtih the FAA" etc..


I was amazed. Even George's question was "What's next for you? How do you top this?"

Have we reached a tipping point in this country? Is it once again safe for Americans to live out their dreams no matter how patently stupid they are? Is risk taking once again being seen as a virtue and not a delusion? I sure hope so!

Now if you excuse me, I have to go clean out the garage and get started on that scram jet engine for my lawn mower.....

[scaeagles]

I hope so, Moonliner.

In an age of lawsuits and regulation and negative media coverage for failure and a desire for safety above all else, risk taking is something that seems in the past.

I believe it was only 7 years from the time JFK called for a moon landing until we were there. Now decades of planning seem to be the requirement. After the Apollo accident where the astronauts were burned to death, it wasn't long until the next mission was off the ground, but today, a tragic shuttle accident stops shuttle missions for years.

The spirit of discovery and adventure have been quashed by the fear of liability or a negative review by some oversight committee.

[Alex]

Cool that he did it, but he loses points for simply copying something he saw in a movie.

[Stan4dSteph]

Cool that he did it, but he loses points for simply copying something he saw in a movie.Plus he lost his rig and video camera. Hopefully if someone finds it, they will return it, or at least return the footage.

[Moonliner]

Plus he lost his rig and video camera. Hopefully if someone finds it, they will return it, or at least return the footage.

My window (here on the east coast) faces west. I'll be keeping an eye out...


But my point is not so much about the guy, it's more about stupid being back in style with the mainstream press.

[RStar]

I'm amazed that he could have filled 105 large helium balloons. Do you know how hard it is to keep that many balloons under control? I swear they get a life of their own at some point......

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Did he get in trouble with the FAA like the last guy did?

[Morrigoon]

I thought mythbusters disproved this?

[JWBear]

I thought mythbusters disproved this?

Nope. Not only is it possible, it happened... twice now!

[Ghoulish Delight]

I thought mythbusters disproved this?
Quite the opposite, they recreated it (though tethered so as not to reach law-breaking heights).

Of course, it always bugs me when they set out to bust "myths" that are not myths but rather are actual occurrences easily verified by a trip to your local library and a search through their newspaper holdings.

Larry Walters (http://www.snopes.com/travel/airline/walters.asp), was truly a visionary. What those visions were, we may never know.

[Kevy Baby]

Of course, it always bugs me when they set out to bust "myths" that are not myths but rather are actual occurrences easily verified by a trip to your local library and a search through their newspaper holdings.It makes for good television and gives them more material to work with. At least that's what I would guess.