Plan B Forum

Eric Roner lifted by balloons to 8,000 feet

BASE jumper soars to the heavens in a lawn chair beneath 90 balloons filled with 50 tanks of helium; 'I'm doing it. This is crazy!'

December 20, 2014 by Pete Thomas

Eric Roner
“I’m doing it. This is crazy!” Eric Roner says during his lawn-chair flight. Video screen grab

Eric Roner has a point when he asks, “Who hasn’t thought about being lifted up by balloons into the sky?”

That’s because most people who have been around helium-filled balloons probably wondered, at some point, how many it’d require to achieve liftoff, and how amazing the sensation must be.

Most people, however, are too sensible to try to find out.

But Roner, an avid skier and BASE jumper from Northern California, can now tell you that it requires about 90 large and colorful balloons, 50 tanks of helium, “a rickety old lawn chair,” and a parachute.

The accompanying footage reveals how his crazy project came together: the acquisition of equipment, the selection of a suitable location (unnamed), achieving lift-off and, ultimately, shooting the balloons once enough altitude has been gained, bailing and floating softly back to earth.

balloons
Eric Roner quickly ascends beneath 90 balloons; video screen grab

As for the sensation, Roner provides this commentary:

• “I’m doing it. This is crazy!” (at 292 feet)

• “You’ve got to be kidding me. This is ridiculous.” (1,630 feet)

• “It’s nice up here.” (1,975 feet)

lawn chair
Roner enjoying the view from 6,551 feet. Video screen grab

• “Wow it really doesn’t get much more peaceful than this.” (2,600 feet)

At about 3,300 feet, the first balloon pops. Roner:

• “That’s a popped balloon. They told me that it would be scary, and yes it is.” (4,300 feet)

Two more balloons pop, then another pops, as Roner quickly ascends. Finally, he has attained 8,000 feet, a safe parachuting height, and begins to shoot balloons with what looks like a shotgun.

Then comes time to release the chair from the balloons, and to release himself from the chair, and skydive to earth, gun still in hand.

Inching closer to ground, Roner laughs goofily, as if in disbelief, and concludes softly, “That was epic.”

Authorities say DNA from a body found earlier this month off Brazil's coast matches a priest who disappeared while flying over the Atlantic attached to hundreds of brightly colored party balloons.

Rev. Adelir Antonio de Carli set off from the Brazilian port city of Paranagua on April 20 strapped to 1,000 helium-filled balloons in an attempt to raise money to build a rest stop and worship center for truckers.

When de Carli, took off that fateful day he was wearing a helmet, aluminum thermal flight suit, water proof coveralls and parachute and was seeking to break a record for the longest time in-flight with party balloons. The experienced skydiver, who had survival and wilderness training, was also carrying a GPS tracker and a radio so he could report his position to the Brazilian Navy and air traffic control.

He planned to use the money raised in his attempt to break the 19-hour record to fund a "spiritual" rest stop in Paranagua, home to Brazil's largest grain port.

He was reported missing about eight hours after taking off when he lost contact with port authority officials.

The 41-year-old Roman Catholic priest disappeared and the balloons were found in the water. Tugboat workers found a body in early July that authorities believed belonged to the priest.

Medical examiner worker Rosane Alves on Tuesday said that DNA tests had confirmed the body was de Carli.

The cluster of yellow, orange, pink and white balloons was seen two days after takeoff, floating intact in the sea off Brazil's southern Santa Catarina state near de Carli's last contact point, according to a photograph posted on Sao Paulo's UOL news Web site.

Authorities reached the cluster of balloons but the priest was not there.

The priest embarked on a similar adventure on Jan. 13, when he used 600 balloons to carry him on a four-hour, 17,390 foot-high voyage from the town of Ampere to neighboring Argentina, where he landed safely. .

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TPFKA@W wrote:Certifiable.

Roner, an avid skier and BASE jumper from Northern California

90 large and colorful balloons, 50 tanks of helium,