Lawnchair Larry

When his friends cut the cord that tied his lawn chair to his Jeep, Lawnchair Larry climbed like a homesick angel to an altitude of approximately 16,000 feet where he was sighted by two separate but equally surprised commercial airliner crews.

Larry slowly drifted over Long Beach and subsequently entered controlled airspace as he crossed the primary approach for Long Beach Airport.

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Citizens Band Monitoring Station(REACT): What information do you wish me to tell [the airport] at this time as to your location and your difficulty?

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Lawnchair Larry: Ah, the difficulty is, ah, this was an unauthorized balloon launch, and, uh, I know I'm in 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.

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After 45 minutes of flinging himself through the footless halls of air in his lawn chair, in preparation for his descent, Larry shot several balloons, then accidentally dropped his pellet gun overboard. Nonetheless, Lawnchair Larry descended slowly, until the balloons' got caught in a power line at 423 E 44th Way in Long Beach. The power line broke, causing a blackout for the local community.

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Thankfully, Lawnchair Larry was returned to Earth unharmed.

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Just after landing, Walters spoke to the press, saying, "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 on the funny farm.” "I couldn’t just sit around"

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You can laugh at Larry, but he completed his mission and his lawn chair attached to some of the original tethers and water jugs now sits proudly on display amongst aviation greats at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.

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