Page 12 - Cluster Balloon News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Latitude but altitude, as well. >> if you lost your phone, you would have where to track it. and we could follow it. >> next to the camera was a little hd camera that's used for sky diving stunts and motor sports and things like that. the whole craft with the camera and the tracking system is within the four-pound limit for faa regulations. >> august 11th, 2010. newburgh, new york. after eight months of prep work, launch day finally arrives. >> when we were assembling the balloon, the two kids, max and his best friend miles, were just so excited. >> we bought like some lollipops so me and mile...

>> july 5, 2008. kent couch attempts to fly from bend, oregon, to boise, idaho, and break his record of 193 miles traveled in a cluster balloon. >> on launch day, we got to be up at 3:30 in the morning. >> it's usually between 50 to 70 volunteers that make this thing work. we'd normally have four or six helium stations. each station has four people on it with a different role. >> it takes a minute or two to blow up one balloon. we don't want to blow them up all the way because we want room for them to expand. >> after all the balloons are staged, we put them in clusters of five. then you start...

Out his childhood fantasy, floating nearly 18,000 feet above the earth tethered to dozens of brightly colored balloons. >> some of my best memories are as a child. you look up and you see a little cloud and you said, i wish i could get on that cloud and float. it's a peaceful experience. >> this is not just a flight of fancy for kent couch. in 2008, he tries to break his own record for number of miles traveled in what's called a cluster balloon. >> i call cluster ballooning simply a way to get up in the air with a group of balloons. some people would use weather balloons. i've never done that....

Because we wanted to put it up in the air and bring it down. >> the first model of it had wings and a tail fin. >> we were looking at things like how shaky it would be, how much it would be influenced by wind, things like that. it actually told us a lot. >> it's essential the aircraft rise and fall with as little resistance as possible. this will keep it stable enough to capture a steady shot. >> the foam outside was done with spray insulation that you'd use for your windows in your home and that made kind of a hard case and kind of made it this hamburger shape that was very aerodynamic. >> we...

Back up. then when he gets too high, he pops a couple balloons to come back down. running out of ballast is the end of the ride in terms of his ability to control his altitude. each time it made things a little better just learning from the previous flight. >> i started using a pilot's parachute, which is nice and comfortable. we had more balloons, more ballast, we got more security and safety. better communication between the ground crew. >> july 5, 2008. kent couch attempts to fly from bend, oregon, to boise, idaho, and break his record of 193 miles traveled in a cluster balloon. >> on launc...