Lawn Chair Flying

They were invented for you to sit back and relax in on a summer's afternoon; there are many styles, various colours and shapes of the lawn chair, and they were invented with only one use in mind, to sit on.

As you sit and while away the time, listening to the birds and allowing the gentle breeze take you away in the form of an afternoon snooze, someone somewhere is using their lawn chair quite differently while still sitting down, they have quite literally found another use for it.

These people are joining the birds rather than listening to them, they are feeling and using that gentle breeze to their advantage, they are quite simply, lawn chair ballooning.

Yes they have taken to the skies on their simple aluminium garden seat, filling colourful balloons with helium, filling a picnic basket with food and drink and flying away.

In 1982 a lawn chair balloonist, Larry Walters fulfilled a dream of 20 years, he had joined the air force but unfortunately bad eyesight prevented him from becoming a pilot, however in 1982 he flew at 16,000 feet, using his lawn chair and 45 helium filled weather balloons, he took off quite violently and he flew higher than intended or expected, he landed himself in a spot of bother though after using a pellet gun to pop some of the balloons to allow him to descend, he became tangled in electric cables and caused a power cut in a small area of Long Beach.

The pilot and inventor of lawn chair flying machine was eventually arrested by the LAPD for violating air space, he had been in the air for an incredible 14 hours and there were many reports of a strange sighting by major airlines, he was charged with reckless operation of an aircraft, failure to stay in communication with an airline tower, and flying a "civil aircraft for which there is not currently in effect an airworthiness certificate." So what was the result of this escapade? He was given a $1,500 fine.

In 2006 another man Kent Couch, had to parachute out of his flying machine after popping too many of his helium balloons and in 2007 he flew 193 miles whilst being held aloft in his green lawn chair by 105 helium balloons, this year on Saturday 5th of July 2008, saw Crouch make his third flight, he had the financial support of a sponsor and a team of volunteers, he flew an amazing 235 miles but still didn't make it out of Idaho state, his only disappointment.

Many others around the world are trying this method of leaving the safety of the ground, so what is it that makes a man want to fly a lawn chair?

Walters reply when asked by a reporter was, "A man can't just sit around." and Crouch, a gas station owner, was quoted as saying "When you're laying in the grass on a summer day, and you see the clouds, you wish you could jump on them," he said. "This is as close as you can come to jumping on them. It's just like that."

Cluster ballooning has now become a popular pastime with those who remember holding a balloon at the funfair and wishing it would lift them to the skies and there are websites that share stories and events, to find out more visit Cluster Balloon.

The first man to try his hand at cluster ballooning was Dr Jean Piccard, in 1937 he tied himself to 95 rubber balloons and went approximately 11,000 feet to read more about him visit Time magazine and if you wish to learn how to make your own Lawn chair balloon machine, go here.