Man fined £87 after strapping a car under a hot air balloon and flying it 100ft over Russian city

A DAREDEVIL Russian has found himself in hot water - or is that hot air - after he decided it would be a good idea to try to make his car fly.

The madcap motorhead attached his tiny Oka car to a hot air balloon, and took flight over the city of Novosibirsk in south-central Russia.

Well, that's certainly one way to beat the traffic

Alexandru Barshentsev fitted a gas burner to the roof of the little motor and attached it underneath a large hot air balloon.

To make it light enough to take off, he removed everything he could including the seats, windows and everything under the bonnet.

Travelling in the shell of the fluorescent green Oka, Barshentsev ascended up to a height of 98 feet into the city sky.

But while some onlookers were impressed by the stunt, Russian authorities looked upon it with less of an open mind.

The car had a gas burner attached to the roof to power the balloon

Barshentsev was fined 6,700 RUB (£87) for the incident, as authorities claim it could have been potentially dangerous to himself and other aircraft.

They are now threatening to take away the man's hot air ballooning licence, too.

Transport prosecutor Oksana Gorbunova said: "The aerostat got up to a height of about 30 metres (98 feet).

"The car could have fallen down at any moment. Such a flight within the city borders threatened the life of not only the owner of the balloon, but also other aircraft."

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has got nothing on this flying motor The pilot didn't seem to think he should have been fined for the stunt

Mr Barshentsev pointed out that the car remained attached to the ground by rope throughout its flight.

Had anything gone wrong, it would have simply fallen back onto the empty field below.

He said the most dangerous part had been landing as even a conventional hot air balloon basket could cause injuries when touching back down on the ground.

Mr Barshentsev said: "For me it was mostly of interest as a piece of research."

He said he was now considering developing a balloon basket with a suspension system, like a car, to improve safety on landing.

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Source: Man fined £87 after strapping a car under a hot air balloon and flying it 100ft over Russian city