Lord Noel on Being Up Up & Away

Whatto! Dreamers.............

Larry Walters was a man with a dream...............

Many of us have dreams..........

.....but how many of decide to make those dreams.....REALITY?

Well Larry decided that he would actually 'live his dream'.

It was in 1982 that Larry took an ordinary aluminium lawn chair............

.....strapped 42 weather grade helium balloons to it......

.....and christened it "Inspiration 1"

His dream was to fly.....

.....something so many of us only ever dream about......

....but he was to make his dream a reality!

Luckily Larry had prepared for his flight..........

........... by packing a bottle of soft drink and a parachute.......

......... and also taking along a portable CB radio to alert air traffic to his presence.

He took a camera too...........

.......... but later admitted, "I didn't take any pictures because I was so paralysed by the view."

At this point you may be wondering "I wonder what training Larry had in piloting a balloon?"

And I'm glad you asked...........

....because the training that Larry had.....

....was that he was ..........

....a truck driver.

And so the adventure began.

Two of Larry's friends helped him in his quest........

........ by untying the guy ropes.........

...... that lashed him so firmly to the safety of the ground.

Larry quickly soared upwards...........

.....so quickly that he soon reached an altitude of 16.000 feet!....

....that's about three miles high.

Sitting in an aluminium lawn chair............

.....way above Long Beach.........

..... Larry began to feel cold........

...very cold.

Fortunately Larry had a plan..........

....... and Larry's plan concerned how to control his descent.

He had decidec that he would control his descent................by bursting the balloons with his trusty pellet gun.......

.......... and thereby descend gracefully back to earth.

Several airline pilots spotted him.............

....because by now, Larry was also on an air traffic control lane.....

..... and they contacted the Federal Aviation Administration.

So Larry soon became the centre of everyones attention.

Unfortunately Larry had no control over the speed of his decent......

..... and as he popped balloons with his trusty pellet gun.........

...he fell back to earth......

....in a most undignified manner.......and far more rapidly than he'd anticipated.......

..... narrowly escaping death as his balloons draped over power lines, blacking out a Long Beach neighbourhood.

But by fulfilling his dream......

.....Larry Walters became immortalised......

......... as 'The Lawn Chair Pilot'

His 'adventure' cost Larry Walters a $1,500 fine from the FAA.........

However he earned the top prize from the Bonehead Club of Dallas.

And Larry also claimed the altitude record for gas-filled clustered balloons!

In due course Larry was invited to appear on "The Tonight Show"..........

............. and was also flown to New York to be on "Late Night With David Letterman."

Larry said "This is the most fun I've ever had, and I didn't think that by fulfilling my dream I would create such a stir and make people laugh."

Larry gave up his truck-driving job and went on the lecture circuit, remaining in demand at motivational seminars.

There was even a show created about his adventure................

But he said he never made much money from his innovative flight and was glad to keep his simple lifestyle.

Apparently he gave away his aluminium lawn chair to some children after he landed...........

.......but he later regretting giving away his 'pride and joy'.

Like so many things in life...........the old adage applies.........

...."What goes up ...must come down".....

Larry never married.............. and had no children..........

And it believed that his service in Vietnam.............

........... may have been the key to his suicide in 1993.

Tallyho!

Best Wishes Lord Noel & Lady Jacqueline