On July 2, 1982, 33-year-old Larry Walters attached over 40 helium-filled weather balloons to a lawn chair and took off into the skies over Los Angeles. A startled airline pilot reported seeing him at an altitude of 16,000 feet! Walters had taken a portable CB radio and a BB gun to shoot balloons in order to descend. After shooting several balloons, he dropped the gun. He traveled 45 minutes and descended into some power lines in Long Beach, alighting uninjured. Now the audio file of the CB transmissions during Walters’ flight is available for your listening pleasure, along with lots more information on this odd stunt, at the official site of The Lawnchair Pilot. Link -via Metafilter
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I knew someone who was there at the takeoff. He worked a small film studio, and they had a camera set up to record the takeoff. When they cut him loose, he didn't just drift up in the air, he shot straight up like a rocket.
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He's my hero!
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I'd read once that he killed himself, actually ... hmm, yeah, according to wikipedia he shot himself in the heart: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Walters Very sad ending for anybody, but perhaps especially for someone who spent his 15 minutes of fame doing something so gloriously weird and childlike ...
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It was suicide. His family doesn't know why. Sad.
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wonder how he died in 93. Seems young
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