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Lawnchair Larry flight

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Lawrence Richard Walters, nicknamed Lawnchair Larry or the Lawn Chair Pilot, (April 19, 1949 – October 6, 1993) took flight on July 2, 1982 in a homemade aircraft, dubbed Inspiration I, that he had fashioned out of a Sears patio chair and 45 helium-filled weather balloons. He rose to an altitude of 16,000 feet (3 miles) and floated from his point of origin in San Pedro, California into federal airspace near Long Beach airport. The account of his flight was widely reported in newspapers. The feat is noted as an urban legend that is true.

Preparation and launch

Walters and his girlfriend, Carol Van Deusen, purchased 45 four-foot weather balloons and helium tanks at California Toy Time Balloons. To avoid suspicion, they used a forged requisition from his employer, FilmFair Studios, saying the balloons were for a television commercial shoot. Walters then attached the balloons to his lawnchair, filled them with helium, donned a parachute, and strapped himself to the chair with a pellet gun (with which he intended to shoot the balloons to lower himself), a CB radio, sandwiches, soft drinks, and a camera. After that, things did not work out as he had planned. When his friends cut the cord that had tied his lawnchair to his jeep, Walters' lawnchair, which was planned to rise 100 feet above the ground, quickly rose to a height of about 16,000 feet (4,876 m); fearing that he might get himself into even deeper trouble, he did not dare shoot any balloons, instead drifting over Long Beach and crossing the primary approach corridor of Long Beach airport. Airplanes zoomed by him, above him, and below him.

After spending about two hours in the sky, though, he came to the conclusion that he would have to shoot a few balloons after all; doing so caused him to descend slowly again, until the balloon's dangling cables got caught in a power line, causing a black out in a Long Beach neighbourhood for 20 minutes, but also allowing Walters to climb down to the ground again.

Arrest and notoriety

He was immediately arrested by waiting members of the LAPD; when asked why he had done it by a reporter, Walters replied "a man can't just sit around". He was later fined US$4,000 by the Federal Aviation Administration for violations of the Federal Aviation Act, including operating a "civil aircraft for which there is not currently in effect an airworthiness certificate" and 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.

Walters also received the top prize from the Bonehead Club of Dallas for his adventure, as well as invitations to The Tonight Show and Late Night with David Letterman and an honourable mention in 1982's Darwin Awards. His lawn-chair balloon was also featured in an episode of Mythbusters.

Origin of his plan

Walters always dreamed of flying but was unable to become a pilot in the United States Air Force due to bad eyesight. He first came up with the idea of using weather balloons to fly at age 13, when seeing them hanging from the ceiling of an Army Navy surplus store. Walters first made his decision to fly while sitting in his lawnchair in his backyard in Los Angeles, watching jets fly overhead [dubious – discuss]; his original plan was to attach a couple of helium-filled weather balloons to his lawnchair, then cut the anchor and float above his backyard at a height of about 30 feet for a few hours [dubious – discuss], finally using a pellet gun to pop the balloons one after another to float gently to the ground again.

Life after the flight

The lawnchair used in his flight was given to an admiring boy named Jerry, although Walters later admitted he regretted doing so. The Smithsonian Institution asked him to donate it to its museum. Twenty years later, the boy, by that time 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 as the boy who was given the chair. It had been sitting in his garage the whole time, still attached to some of the original tethers and water jugs used as ballast.

Walters was in brief demand as a motivational speaker after his flight and quit his job as a truck driver, but never was able to make much money from his fame. Later on in his life, Walters hiked the San Gabriel Mountains and did volunteer work for the United States Forest Service before committing suicide by shooting himself in the heart in Angeles National Forest on October 6, 1993.

Myths dispelled

Many exaggerated or simply inaccurate stories have circulated around the Web regarding Walters' flight. The following facts have been confirmed from interviews with his friends and family, and by analysing a recording of his CB radio transmissions.

  • Larry was launched from his girlfriend's backyard in San Pedro, California with the assistance of another friend, Ron Richlin.
  • Larry dropped his glasses during lift-off, but had a spare pair with him, and radioed his "ground crew," saying, "I can see perfectly — don't worry." (Later in the flight, when his girlfriend reported she had found his glasses, he replied "Well, that's good news.")
  • Larry did not pass near LAX, but rather Long Beach airport, where TWA and Delta airlines pilots sighted him and reported him to the tower.
  • Larry came down in a residential area north-east of Long Beach airport.
  • Larry did not drop his BB gun during lift-off. However, later in the flight, after using it to pop balloons to begin a descent, he did drop the gun.
  • Larry did float over Long Beach harbour but did not float out to sea.
  • Larry did not, as some newspapers reported, purchase the balloons from an Army Navy surplus store, but from a balloon supplier.
  • Larry was not rescued by a helicopter, but rather came down on his own intent while possibly trying to land in an open field.
  • Larry's chair was a piece of patio furniture, not a folding lawn chair.
  • Larry gave the patio furniture away to a neighbourhood kid, later regretting this generosity when the Smithsonian asked to place the chair in its archives. Today that same person still has the chair (with ballast water jugs and tethers still attached), and has said they intend to donate it to Larry's mother.
  • Larry paid $1,500 after battling the FAA. Of 4 total charges, some were dropped (it was decided that his lawn chair did not need an airworthiness certificate) and Larry admitted to one other (not establishing and maintaining two-way contact with the airport control tower). According to the FAA, "The flight was potentially unsafe, but Walters had not intended to endanger anyone".

Quotes

  • "A man can't just sit around." (Immediately after his flight when asked by a reporter why he did it)
  • "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."
  • "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."
  • Regional safety inspector Neal Savoy is 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."
  • Larry was also in contact with REACT, a CB monitoring organisation, who recorded their conversation:
REACT: What information do you wish me to tell them [LAX] at this time as to your location and your difficulty?
Larry: Ah, the difficulty is, ah, this was an unauthorised balloon launch, and, uh, I know I'm in a federal airspace, and, uh, I'm sure my ground crew has alerted the proper authority. But, uh, just call them and tell them I'm okay.

Pop culture references

  • Larry Walters' flight is referenced in the third season of the Fox Comedy Arrested Development, wherein George Bluth Sr., inspired by a television program about Walters, attempts to use a deck chair rigged with helium balloons to escape from house arrest.
  • The story of Walters also inspired the romantic comedy Danny Deckchair.
  • There is also an easter egg in Sim City 4 that shows a man in a lawn chair attached to balloons, floating across the city, an obvious referance to Larry Walters.
  • Larry's flight is described in Neil Halstead's song "Hi-Lo and Inbetween" on his solo album "Sleeping on Roads"
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