Recently, Kent Couch from Bend, Oregon decided to attempt flying across state lines from Oregon to Idaho with nothing more than helium balloons and and lawn chair. Armed with a BB gun and darts he set out on his mission. While he was successful in flying across state lines, I feel that he did damage to our sport. Once his lawn chair and balloons became airborne, he became an aircraft. He did not apply for an expermential license nor did he obtain the proper licensing to operate an aircraft.
By obtaing neither of these, and every talk show in the country wanting to have him on, very soon everybody that has ever wanted to attempt this will be lifting off. They too will want the same fame that has resulted of this. Now, every attempt we have made to try to improve landowner relations may go out the window.
We as a balloon club and the BFA as a whole need to have an issue with this guy. With the proper procedures and promotion as a balloonist this could have been a good thing for our sport.
Please sound off your thoughts and concerns regarding Kent Couch.
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I feel that Kent Couch has done more harm than good for the sport of hot air ballooning. It's fortunate that he didn’t hurt himself, as that would have certainly reinforced perceptions that some people have that hot air ballooning is unnecessarily risky. I do think that the WAS should go on record and make a public statement to the press, regarding how this guy went around all the regulations and fortunately got away with it, but this act should be considered very dangerous and not endorsed by the WAS (and probably FAA too). It might be a good idea to check with the Portland FSDO to see what they have to say about this too.
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