On July 2, 1982, a truck driver from California flew 16,000 feet into the sky in a lawn chair.
Larry Walters, 33, from San Pedro, had dreamed of flying his whole life. He bought 42 eight-foot helium weather balloons, tied them to a regular Sears lawn chair, strapped on a parachute, packed a BB gun to pop balloons to descend, a CB radio, sandwiches, and a six-pack of beer.
He expected to float a few hundred feet above his backyard.
He cut the rope and shot up like a rocket — to 16,000 feet. He drifted directly into the main approach path for LAX. Two airline pilots radioed the tower: they had just passed a man in a lawn chair holding a gun at 16,000 feet.
For 45 minutes, he floated over Los Angeles, freezing cold, too scared to shoot balloons because he might fall. Finally, he started popping balloons one by one and slowly descended.
He landed tangled in power lines in Long Beach, California, causing a blackout. When police arrested him, they asked why he did it. He said, "A man can't just sit around."
The FAA fined him $4,000. He became a national folk hero — Lawnchair Larry — and inspired the movie Up.
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As soon as I saw the thread title, i knew exactly who this was about.
16,000' is a couple of thousand above where we used to skydive from.
Loved sitting by the open door of the Otter on the ride up. But not in a law chair drifting around.
Imagine being the pilot seeing this, and wondering if he should report it, much like the decision whether to report a UFO or not.
🤔
Edit:
Next time one of you gets put in time out, you need to start another account with, lawnchair larry, as your username.
That would be a good name for a band also ! 😄
"A man can't just sit around"
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And yet he was.
🤣
Good romcom from OZ Deckchair Danny flick loosely based on Larry's escapade.
I'm gonna throw one of those right turns in here...I had a boss that bought a basketcase helicopter. Took him a few years to put it back together. He thought he was being safe by tying a rope to the skid in case he had a runaway. As soon as it started it shot to the moon...hit the end of the rope and he and the bird crashed into his house. He said it didn't hurt as bad as the rime his little 2 shot derringer went off in his pocket.🙃
Just those two examples and I question his decision making skills. 😂
Lol...he was a complete nut job but funny as fuck.
Ole Larry was a beer or two short of a sixpack, but he was one of my heroes back in the early 90s 🤣🤣.
He drifted up into the approach corridor to LAX airport, there's audio floating around on the interwebs of a Delta pilot reporting a "man in a lawnchair up here" and pissing himself laughing.
Over the years he made some money off his stunt, like this Timex ad during the "takes a licking and keeps on ticking" ad campaign. They had several loons who survived crazy situations, as subjects.
Sadly, those two beers short caught up with him, as I recall in the mid-90s he went camping up some canyon behind Palm Springs and offed himself there.
There was a farmer out north of me that I heard was doing the same. He didn't have a clue how to fly a helicopter so he tied a rope to it so he could practice. Never did hear anymore about it and he is still alive so....
In the spirit of Lawn Chair Larry here is Rocket Man in a lounge chair.... 😂
https://youtu.be/kQ5xj07A1v4?is=cgw_GXb4EQRooNwD
Earned an honorable mention Darwin Award after his self inflicted death. Definitely a bad ass dude to do what he did.
As kmc140 posted, I think that flight was a bit of an inspiration for this little OZ movie:
Has 2 of my favourite Australian Actresses in it - Justine Clarke, and Miranda Otto.
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