A cheaper way to fly?

I ran across this interesting web site about
an alternative way to fly. Looks like fun.

Ronnie

http://www.clusterballoon.org/

I ran across this interesting web site about
an alternative way to fly. Looks like fun.

http://www.clusterballoon.org/

Fun, maybe. But what can you *do* with it?

I like to fly places...not just "up".
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

I ran across this interesting web site about an alternative way to fly.
Looks like fun.

http://www.clusterballoon.org/


1982 - Larry Walters

http://www.markbarry.com/lawnchairman.html
[From the site]
The tape begins with Carol begging Larry to come down. Larry remains
incredibly calm during the whole ordeal, and Carol seems to be somewhat
excited over his premature launch. Larry does mention that he lost his
glasses on the launch which confirms the extent of how fast he soared into
the air after breaking loose. REACT was able to contact him over his
portable hand-held CB radio and most of the conversations deal with them
trying to completely understand what Larry is doing up there and what he's
flying. At first, REACT believes he is in a normal balloon but soon realize
that there is nothing "normal" at all about his craft, which he named
"Inspiration." We never hear the final moments when he lands because the CB
signal was too weak. But Larry was over the Long Beach airport when the
recording ends. He took off from San Pedro, CA.

[What a hoot!! I wouldn't come down, either, if she was waiting on the
ground
for me. g]

http://www.markbarry.com/lawnchairman.html

"The Lawn Chair Pilot" Audio File (18:25)
(Scroll half-way down the page to Audio link - it's right above Photos)

[From the site]
When Larry Walters was 13 years old, he went to a local Army-Navy surplus
store and saw the weather balloons hanging from the ceiling. It was then he
knew that some day he would be carried aloft by such balloons. This
obsession would be with him for the next 20 years. On July 2nd, 1982, Larry
tied 42 helium-filled balloons to a Sears lawn chair in the backyard of his
girlfriend's house in San Pedro, California. With the help of his ground
crew, Larry then secured himself into the lawn chair which was anchored to
the bumper of a friend's car by two nylon tethers. He took with him many
supplies, including a BB gun to shoot out the balloons when he was ready to
descend. His goal was to sail across the desert and hopefully make it to the
Rocky Mountains in a few days. But things didn't quite work out for Larry.
After his crew purposely cut the first tether, the second one also snapped
which shot Larry into the LA sky at over 1,000 feet per minute. So fast was
his ascent that he lost his glasses. He then climbed to over 16,000 feet.
For several hours he drifted in the cold air near the LA and Long Beach
airports. A TWA pilot first spotted Larry and radioed the tower that he was
passing a guy in a lawn chair at 16,000! Larry started shooting out a few
balloons to start his descent but had accidentally dropped it. He eventually
landed in a Long Beach neighborhood. Although he was entangled in some power
lines, he was uninjured.


Montblack

Jay Honeck wrote:

I like to fly places...not just "up".


They can go places, too!

The difference is that you get to choose which place you're going.

I kinda like to choose where and how I come down!
Jim

"B A R R Y" wrote in message
.com...
Jay Honeck wrote:

I like to fly places...not just "up".


They can go places, too!

The difference is that you get to choose which place you're going.

("Jim Burns" wrote)
I kinda like to choose where and how I come down!


Hello, BB gun!

You shoot an approach.
They shoot an approach.


Montblack

Hello, BB gun!

You shoot an approach.
They shoot an approach.


Montblack

Classic!

Ronnie wrote:

I ran across this interesting web site about
an alternative way to fly. Looks like fun.

Scares the hell out of me.

Some people will do *anything* to get airborne, nevermind the risk.