The stunt was a test run for a full-blown helium balloon race.
It's a stunt you might pull off with stuff found lying around the house, but you probably shouldn't try this at home.
In a chair strapped to 100 helium balloons, Tom Morgan flew more than 15 miles across South Africa last week, reaching heights of up to 8,000 feet.
Morgan, who runs an adventure company out of the U.K., was using the flight as a sort of test run for a full-blown balloon race he intends to hold next year.
"It's going to be a three-day, long distance, floating adventure under party balloons on a chair... probably the silliest air race," Morgan said in a video posted on the Facebook page for his company, The Adventurists.
After an unsuccessful week of trying to fly in Botswana, Morgan's team relocated to South Africa where the flight finally worked.
In order to return to Earth, Morgan had to pop the balloons he'd spent so many hours filling. After he’d reached more than 8,300 feet, the team learned of incoming strong winds and he had to cut the flight short for safety.
"It was a fairly indescribable feeling, wafting across Africa on a cheap camping chair dangling from a load of balloons. Sort of peaceful and terrifying in equal measure. I came here to see if we could organize the world's most ridiculous air race and after that flight, I'm more convinced than ever that we can," Morgan said.
