| Larry Walters | |
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| Born | April 19, 1949 Los Angeles, California |
| Died | October 6, 1993 (aged 44) Angeles National Forest |
| Other names | Lawnchair Larry |
| Known for | Flying a lawn chair with weather balloons |
Lawrence Richard Walters, nicknamed "Lawnchair Larry" or the "Lawn Chair Pilot", (April 19, 1949 – October 6, 1993) was an American truck driver[1] who took flight on July 2, 1982 in a homemade aircraft. Dubbed Inspiration I, the "flying machine" consisted of an ordinary patio chair with 45 helium-filled weather balloons attached to it. Walters rose to an altitude of over 15,000 feet (4,600 m) and floated from his point of origin in San Pedro, California into controlled airspace near Los Angeles International Airport. His flight was widely reported in many newspapers.
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Walters had always dreamed of flying, but was unable to become a pilot in the United States Air Force because of his poor eyesight. Walters had first thought of using weather balloons to fly at age 13, after seeing them hanging from the ceiling of a military surplus store. Twenty years later he decided to do so. His intention was to attach a few helium-filled weather balloons to his lawnchair, cut the anchor, and then float above his backyard at a height of about 30 feet (9.1 m) for several hours. He planned to use a pellet gun to burst balloons to float gently to the ground.
In mid-1982, Walters and his girlfriend, Carol Van Deusen, purchased 45 eight-foot weather balloons and obtained helium tanks from California Toy Time Balloons. They used a forged requisition from his employer, FilmFair Studios, saying the balloons were for a television commercial. Walters attached the balloons to his lawn chair, filled them with helium, put on a parachute, and strapped himself into the chair in the backyard of a home at 1633 W. 7th St. in San Pedro[2] He took his pellet gun, a CB radio, sandwiches, cold beer, and a camera. When his friends cut the cord that tied his lawn chair to his Jeep, Walters' lawn chair rose rapidly to a height of about 15,000 feet (4,600 m). At first, he did not dare shoot any balloons, fearing that he might unbalance the load and cause himself to spill out. He slowly drifted over Long Beach and crossed the primary approach corridor of Long Beach Airport.
He was in contact with REACT, a CB monitoring organization, who recorded their conversation:
After 45 minutes in the sky, he shot several balloons, and then accidentally dropped his pellet gun overboard. He descended slowly, until the balloons' dangling cables got caught in a power line, causing a blackout in a Long Beach neighborhood for 20 minutes. Walters was able to climb to the ground.
He was immediately arrested by waiting members of the Long Beach Police Department; when asked by a reporter why he had done it, Walters replied, "A man can't just sit around."
Regional safety inspector Neal Savoy was reported to have said, "We know he broke some part of the Federal Aviation Act, and as soon as we decide which part it is, some type of charge will be filed. If he had a pilot's license, we'd suspend that. But he doesn't." Walters was initially fined US$4,000 for violations under U. S. Federal Aviation Regulations, including operating an aircraft within an airport traffic area "without establishing and maintaining two-way communications with the control tower." Walters appealed, and the fine was reduced to US$1,500.[3] (A charge of operating a "civil aircraft for which there is not currently in effect an Airworthiness Certificate" was dropped, as it was not applicable to this class of aircraft.) Walters commented, "If the FAA was around when the Wright Brothers were testing their aircraft, they would never have been able to make their first flight at Kitty Hawk."
Walters received the top prize from the Bonehead Club of Dallas for his adventure, as well as invitations from The Tonight Show and Late Night with David Letterman, plus an honorable mention in 1982's Darwin Awards.
Walter's flight was replicated (though tethered) on one of the pilot episodes of the TV show MythBusters, in which one of the show's hosts was lifted to a height just under 30 m (100 ft) and gradually reduced his altitude by shooting balloons with a pellet gun.
The lawnchair used in the flight was given to an admiring boy named Jerry, though Walters later regretted doing so, since the Smithsonian Institution asked him to donate it to its museum. Twenty years later, Jerry, by then an adult, sent an e-mail to Mark Barry, a pilot who had documented Walters's story and dedicated a Web site to it, and identified himself. It was still sitting in his garage, attached to some of the original tethers and water jugs used as ballast.[4]
Walters said, "It was something I had to do. I had this dream for twenty years, and if I hadn't done it, I think I would have ended up in the funny farm. I didn't think that by fulfilling my goal in life — my dream — that I would create such a stir and make people laugh."
After his flight, he was in brief demand as a motivational speaker and he quit his job as a truck driver. He was featured in a Timex print ad in the early '90s,[5] but he never made much money from his fame. Later in his life, Walters hiked the San Gabriel Mountains and did volunteer work for the United States Forest Service. He later broke up with his girlfriend of 15 years and could only find work sporadically as a security guard.
He committed suicide in 1993 at the age of 44 by shooting himself in the heart in Angeles National Forest.[6]
Kent Couch, a 47-year-old gas station owner from Bend, Oregon, reportedly flew 240 miles (390 km) in his lawn chair on Saturday, July 7, 2007, landing in a field about 3 1/2 miles NNW of North Powder, Oregon, about 30 miles (48 km) from the Idaho border.[3] Traveling an average of 22 mph, Couch used plastic bags filled with 75 litres (20 gallons) of water as ballast against the 105 large helium balloons tied to his lawn chair. Like Walters, Couch also had a BB gun on hand to shoot the balloons in order to initiate descent on his first attempt. During his flight he developed a way to release helium out of the balloons allowing for a more controlled descent.[3][9] On July 5, 2008, Couch finally realized his goal of interstate travel when he landed his lawnchair safely in western Idaho. The trip totaled 240 miles (390 km) and took 9 hours and 12 minutes.[10][11]
On April 20, 2008 the Brazilian Roman Catholic priest Adelir Antonio de Carli unsuccessfully flew using a chair and 1000 helium balloons. He did not check the weather forecast and got caught in a storm. He had a GPS but did not know how to operate it. He was last heard on the radio approaching the water after flying off the coast, unable to give his position, and crashed at sea: his body was found by the Brazilian navy near an offshore oil platform on July 4, 2008, one day before Couch's interstate lawnchair balloon flight. This act won him a 2008 Darwin Award.
Numerous imitators since have successfully attempted uncontrolled balloon flight without serious incident, some beating Larry's original 16,000-foot (4,900 m) record.[citation needed]
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