Just like what Carl Fredricksen did in the 2009 Disney-Pixar movie “Up”, this man went out of his way to get his adventure of a lifetime.
Like a scene out of the animated hit, Tom Morgan did the unthinkable and had 100 balloons tied to a chair. He runs a company named “The Adventurists” based in Bristol, England. According to a BBC report, he reached 8,000 feet up in the air just by his invention alone.
The 38-year-old Morgan said that it took him two days to inflate all balloons. He originally intended to fly up from Botswana, but moved to Johannesburg, South Africa because of its humid conditions.
He also used another balloon, painted as a globe, to navigate his location. He was able to fly 25 kilometers across South Africa.
“The problem was finding a good weather window and it was difficult to protect the balloons as they kept bursting,” Morgan said of his original plan.
Despite describing his adventure as being “magical” and “unbelievably cool,” Morgan admitted that he was still frightened during the experience. He had to cut some balloons because he was being transported up in the air so fast.
“I had to keep my cool and started cutting the balloons,” Morgan said in the report.
He hopes that his experience would pave the way to have a helium balloon race in the region. “We will have to avoid areas with lots of spiky bushes though,” Morgan added. Katrina Hallare/JB
RELATED STORY:
Google firm flies balloons to deliver internet, cellphone signals in devastated Puerto Rico