Jan 20 2010Pfft, I Would've Gone Higher: Man Soars To 15,000ft In Balloon-Rigged Office Chair
Jonathan Trappe went and attached 55 industrial strength helium balloons to an office chair and took to the skies above North Carolina. Just like a bird.
After spending two years in training and upwards of £45,000 (~$74K) on the adventure, this was the technical project manager's first ever cluster balloon flight.
He reached a height of 14,783 feet after strapping the industrial-strength balloons to the steel-cased chair and setting off from an airport in North Carolina.'I took two years before this flight gaining my Federal Aviation Administration licence to fly helium balloons as well as hot air balloons,' said Mr Trappe.
Using only a sharp knife to burst the balloons, Mr Trappe explained the difference between bursting a normal party balloon and one used in cluster ballooning.
'Every time you burst the balloon there follows a juddering shot,' he said.
Not to burst your balloon, Jonathan, but real adventurers don't spend $75K and two years training for an adventure. Nope, real adventurers spend $200 at Party Central and a drunken afternoon tying balloons to a patio chair. Just sayin', you make Balloon Boy look like Indiana Jones. And that little bitch just hid in an attic.
Hit the jump for a couple more shots from the "adventure".
Thanks to jtdward, who recently jumped off the roof of his apartment building holding 80 balloons. Helium, jtdward, that's the secret. Get well soon.
Reader Comments
1. Joey Marz - January 20, 2010 2:31 PM
First
2. Closet Nerd - January 20, 2010 2:32 PM
Whenever I spend $200 on balloons, everything sounds like "wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa"..... just sayin
3. righteousjoana - January 20, 2010 2:40 PM
Pretty cool don't get me wrong, guess the guy wants to be apart of "up" but $74k? Lulls
4. bonzo420 - January 20, 2010 2:41 PM
@2 right!!!
:)
~420~
5. Closet Nerd - January 20, 2010 2:41 PM
Careful jtdward,
I tore my ACL trying to throw an ice cream cake off of a roof.... just sayin
6. LSDiesel - January 20, 2010 2:42 PM
Pft. Screw licenses. As far as I'm concerned, there are no laws that govern such activities.
7. voltron - January 20, 2010 2:42 PM
Of course! What else would you spend 2 years of your time and 74 k on?
8. Closet Nerd - January 20, 2010 2:43 PM
@4 Sad part is sometimes your lips turn so blue, it looks like you just gave Papa Smurf a smurfin blow job...... just sayin
9. Uncleangry - January 20, 2010 2:43 PM
74k to fly a chair hooked to some ballons? Could have flown a friggin jet for that much scratch. You sir have failed, and Darwin won't miss next time.
10. Romeo - January 20, 2010 2:45 PM
I just remembered the brazilian priest...
11. Closet Nerd - January 20, 2010 2:51 PM
@10 That priest would of been a great candidate for a Darwin Award; however, by becoming a priest (and vowing a life of celebacy) he had already removed himself from the gene pool
12. G - January 20, 2010 2:58 PM
That's not a recreation of "Up." That's a recreation of Lawn Chair Larry.
13. Rer - January 20, 2010 3:27 PM
@6 I agree. If you're crazy enough to go flying in a chair attached to a bunch of balloons, why would you worry about a license?
14. lameo - January 20, 2010 3:38 PM
Great, but how did he get DOWN?
And, for that matter, how did he control where he landed?
15. AaronZZZ - January 20, 2010 3:41 PM
74K on this?!?........Dose'nt this guy know there are starving children in..........my basement.......... GET BACK DOWN THERE CARLOS!!!!!!
16. carlos - January 20, 2010 4:09 PM
@15 :[
17. 14IsAnIdiot - January 20, 2010 4:13 PM
@14 He popped the balloons like the story says...
18. Brrrrian - January 20, 2010 4:16 PM
74k sure buys a lot of (insert anything because it's cooler than balloons on a chair)
19. jumpin_j - January 20, 2010 4:22 PM
Not as cool as the Space Chair. When you get into the upper Earth's atmosphere, then let us know. Otherwise you're just a mama's boy.
http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/toshiba_space_chair
20. essteeyou - January 20, 2010 4:55 PM
"chairway to heaven" . haha.
21. CABBAC - January 20, 2010 5:20 PM
I wonder if he just wheels himself out of the office on his lunch break and soars up, pops the balloons and heads back to work.."hey Jon, what did you do for lunch? "oh, not much, got some air, spent 74K - oh well back to work!"
22. michelle - January 20, 2010 5:36 PM
GW, you should have photoshoped a pic of the old man from UP into at least one of those pics.
23. Eric the Midget - January 20, 2010 5:45 PM
Fly me with balloons so I can see Katherine Mcvee
I'm a miserable midget who is only four foot three....
Ack Ack!
YOU know what to do,
you KNOW what to do.
24. thomas - January 20, 2010 5:50 PM
What if a flock of birds flew into his balloons..............
25. Andrew Sailer - January 21, 2010 12:58 AM
lol
26. Mayo - January 21, 2010 3:25 AM
Sweet Jesus Jones!!
27. Funny Videos - January 21, 2010 7:52 AM
that would be awesome!
28. Captain Deeznuts - January 21, 2010 8:51 AM
Anybody else wonder how the fuck he used a sharp knife to pop those balloons?
29. UnpaidParkingTickets - January 21, 2010 11:13 AM
He should have went halfsies with GW on the space shuttle instead of a balloon chair.
30. Ken Goldstein Esq. - January 21, 2010 2:05 PM
I represent the family of 'balloon boy' and your remarks are deemed as damaging to my clients. Please remove them or face the wrath of the justice system of the United States of America.
31. xim - January 21, 2010 3:20 PM
http://images.partycity.com/images/set_c/en_us/emails-pc/100119-valentines/pcval30-pc-coupon.gif?extcmp=week3&s_sto=&imm_mid=053c20&extcmp=Valentine+Exchange+Cards+%252410+Off+Coupon&s_cam=2010-01
that might help get you started.
32. Chris - January 22, 2010 5:55 AM
Pffft! Larry Walters did that in 1982 and he didn't have any wimpy ass license! All he had was a BB gun and a 6-pack of beer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Walters