Two-Man Mission To Fly From Dubai To Baghdad

At the time he made his legendary lawn chair flight from Bend, Oregon to a field in Idaho in 2008, most people figured Kent Couch was a little nuts. But now, he's been invited to turn this unusual form of flying into a symbol of freedom in Iraq.

Couch was inspired to his first unsuccessful attempt in 2006 by the story of Larry Walters, who unintentionally floated to 16,000 feet over Los Angeles in 1982, drawing a fine from the FAA. For his successful 2008 flight, (pictured,) he rigged his chair to be lifted by 150 helium-filled party balloons, and took off from the parking lot of his gas station. He's now been invited to fly from Dubai to Baghdad, in a two-place rig with daredevil Fareed Lafta, with the idea of inspiring the imaginations of kids gathered for a November 15 youth festival in Baghdad's Green Zone.

The Blaze reports Couch told the Associated Press, "Now that Saddam Hussein is gone, and the US is pulling out, it is time Iraq really steps up and begins to dream about putting the country back together. I think between having a US citizen and an Iraqi citizen launch together, where we are saying we are fulfilling our dream, it will encourage them to dream, knowing the sky is the limit if they just reach out and try."

Couch has reportedly shipped two lawn chairs, which are unknown in Iraq, 300 balloons, and a framework to hold the chairs, to Dubai, where Lafta lives. The two will reportedly launch for an overnight flight of 400 miles, reaching as high as 25,000 feet, which will require oxygen use.

Unlike his flights in the US, Couch won't be using a BB-gun to prepare for descent, deciding that getting it into Iraq on a commercial flight was probably a non-starter. Lafta reportedly told him, "If you need guns, we’ve got lots of them here."

FMI: www.couchballoons.com ; www.darwinawards.com/stupid/stupid1998-11.html