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Tribute to my hero, Lawnchair Larry!

  • Just saw on ABC News two men who followed in the "footsteps" of my all-time hero and the only surviving Darwin Award winner (until he committed suicide) Lawnchair Larry.

    They got two lawnchairs, a whole bunch of balloons and a BB gun to pop the balloons to come down, just like the pioneer Larry did back in the early 80's.

    Unlike Larry, they actually put some thought into their venture; oxygen tanks, GPS, warm clothing, none of which Larry had.

    They also didn't drastically underestimate the amount of lift from their balloons, which was Larry's mistake, although it led directly to the reason Larry is a legend, and my hero. That more violent amount of thrust is what caused him to shoot into the sky in a matter of seconds, instead of slowly ascending like he planned, ripping out the mooring line he had attached, and causing him to drop his BB gun, sending him skyward with no way to get down.

    It's just a shame that Larry couldn't deal with the fame that the early Internet brought him, because he ended up killing himself.

    But although the roll call of names of men who walked on the moon is short, there is only one man who soared with the angels, clad in a T-shirt and shorts, and actually obstructed air traffic at 10,000 feet going into LAX.

    And that is Larry, hallowed be his name.

    scmarine84

  • scmarine84 said...

    Just saw on ABC News two men who followed in the "footsteps" of my all-time hero and the only surviving Darwin Award winner (until he committed suicide) Lawnchair Larry.

    They got two lawnchairs, a whole bunch of balloons and a BB gun to pop the balloons to come down, just like the pioneer Larry did back in the early 80's.

    Unlike Larry, they actually put some thought into their venture; oxygen tanks, GPS, warm clothing, none of which Larry had.

    They also didn't drastically underestimate the amount of lift from their balloons, which was Larry's mistake, although it led directly to the reason Larry is a legend, and my hero. That more violent amount of thrust is what caused him to shoot into the sky in a matter of seconds, instead of slowly ascending like he planned, ripping out the mooring line he had attached, and causing him to drop his BB gun, sending him skyward with no way to get down.

    It's just a shame that Larry couldn't deal with the fame that the early Internet brought him, because he ended up killing himself.

    But although the roll call of names of men who walked on the moon is short, there is only one man who soared with the angels, clad in a T-shirt and shorts, and actually obstructed air traffic at 10,000 feet going into LAX.

    And that is Larry, hallowed be his name.

    Incredibly, the feat was duplicated before, and today was an attempt for a new record (I hope).

    Anyway, from HoPo

    This post was edited by 901Club on 7/14/2012 at 8:20 PM

    Kent Couch, Lawn Chair Balloonist, Prepares Tandem Flight With Iraqi Fareed Lafta

    BEND, Ore. An Oregon gas station owner and an Iraqi adventurer trying to fly from Central Oregon to Montana in tandem lawn chairs suspended from party balloons are back on land after having to abort their flight due to thunderstorms. Kent Couch and Fareed Lafta were about seven hours into their flight when they were forced to descend, coming down about 30 miles east of their starting point.

    www.huffingtonpost.com

    The serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.

    901Club

  • scmarine84 said...

    (until he committed suicide)

    rumor

    signature image

    randy88moss

  • randy88moss said...

    rumor

    Who is that asian with huge tits?

    rkinslow

  • randy88moss said...

    rumor

    Jesus, really?

    You are beyond pathetic.

    Btw, you ran off from that other thread dipshit. You 'member; the one where you posted that video that exonerated George Zimmerman, although that was the opposite of your intention? 'Member.......you 'member.

    Run along ZWB.

    scmarine84

  • 901Club said...

    Incredibly, the feat was duplicated before, and today was an attempt for a new record (I hope).

    Anyway, from HoPo

    That's what prompted my post, I saw that on ABC.

    And no, they didn't make it. They were hoping to get to Montana but came up short, although the news didn't say how far they actually went.

    scmarine84

  • scmarine84 said...

    Just saw on ABC News two men who followed in the "footsteps" of my all-time hero and the only surviving Darwin Award winner (until he committed suicide) Lawnchair Larry.

    They got two lawnchairs, a whole bunch of balloons and a BB gun to pop the balloons to come down, just like the pioneer Larry did back in the early 80's.

    Unlike Larry, they actually put some thought into their venture; oxygen tanks, GPS, warm clothing, none of which Larry had.

    They also didn't drastically underestimate the amount of lift from their balloons, which was Larry's mistake, although it led directly to the reason Larry is a legend, and my hero. That more violent amount of thrust is what caused him to shoot into the sky in a matter of seconds, instead of slowly ascending like he planned, ripping out the mooring line he had attached, and causing him to drop his BB gun, sending him skyward with no way to get down.

    It's just a shame that Larry couldn't deal with the fame that the early Internet brought him, because he ended up killing himself.

    But although the roll call of names of men who walked on the moon is short, there is only one man who soared with the angels, clad in a T-shirt and shorts, and actually obstructed air traffic at 10,000 feet going into LAX.

    And that is Larry, hallowed be his name.

    I didn't know he killed himself.

    signature image

    Tous pour un, un pour tous

    D A Stankovich

  • This is from Somebody else. But is a great discussion of what happened

    "The date was July 2, 1982, and a man by the name of Larry Walters, who had always dreamed of being an Air Force pilot but couldn't due to his poor eyesight, got the brilliant idea to make a flying machine of his own.

    After finding a bunch of industrial grade weather balloons at a local Army surplus store in his hometown of San Pedro, California, Larry bought them without hesitation, forging paperwork in the process and saying they were for a television commercial.

    Larry then took the balloons, tied them to a lawn chair (hence the nickname Lawnchair Larry) and filled them all full of helium. Equipped with his pellet gun, a CB radio, sandwiches, cold beer, and a camera, Larry sat in the chair and severed the rope anchoring his lawn chair to the ground.

    Instead of slowly rising to a comfortable height of roughly forty feet like Larry had planned, the helium filled balloons quickly shot into the sky with Larry in tow. Larry and his lawn chair rose to a staggering height of over 16,000 feet in a matter of minutes.

    Scared shitless, Larry didn't dare shoot any of the balloons like he'd planned. Instead, the poor bastard clinged on for dear life. Eventually, after 14 hours of being freezing cold and utterly terrified, Larry found himself slowly drifting over Long Beach and crossed the primary landing corridor of Los Angeles International Airport.

    The bewildered pilot of an approaching TWA flight contacted ground control describing how he'd just flew passed a man in a lawn chair carrying a gun at 16,000 feet.

    After trying to describe to ground control what he'd done via his CB radio, Larry decided to take a risk and shoot several of the balloons. He then accidentally dropped his pellet gun overboard, but luckily for him his makeshift craft, dubbed Inspiration I, began to slowly descend. While nearing the ground the balloons' dangling cables got caught in a power line, causing a blackout in Long Beach for over an hour.

    Dangling from the power lines, Larry was able to jump out and safely land on the ground without harm. He was immediately arrested by waiting members of the Long Beach Police Department and fined $4,500 for his antics. The fine was later reduced to $1,500. When asked by a reporter why he had done it, Larry replied, "A man can't just sit around."

    As a result of his insane adventure, Larry received instant fame, and was invited to Johnny Carson's Tonight Show and Late Night with David Letterman. The Smithsonian Institute even asked Larry to donate his craft to their museum, but he declined and gave it to a young admirer named Jerry instead (who still has it to this day.)

    To date, Larry is the only person in history to have ever been awarded a Darwin award and lived through his ordeal to talk about it, since the Darwin Awards are generally awarded posthumously and reserved for those who "do a service to humanity by removing themselves from the gene pool" either by death or sterilization in an idiotic fashion."

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

    He is apparently one of the Inspirations for the movie Up!

    attachment
    signature image

    Tous pour un, un pour tous

    D A Stankovich

  • D A Stankovich said...

    I didn't know he killed himself.

    Yeah, in the late 90's I think.

    It was right after the Internet exploded and the Darwin Awards site resurrected his feat.

    Apparently since they linked to the original article about it, it gave his full name and people were coming up to him and bringing it up.

    He couldn't live with the shame of being the only living Darwin winner.

    scmarine84

  • randy88moss said...

    rumor

    Ha. I've found ZWB's Kryptonite.

    Just point out that video he posted that he THOUGHT would bolster his case with Trayvon actually did the opposite, and he scurries away like the little bitch that he is.

    Although I will say I'm somewhat surprised that he's taking the passive-aggressive cstory stance.

    What a little bitch.

    scmarine84

  • scmarine84 said...

    Yeah, in the late 90's I think.

    It was right after the Internet exploded and the Darwin Awards site resurrected his feat.

    Apparently since they linked to the original article about it, it gave his full name and people were coming up to him and bringing it up.

    He couldn't live with the shame of being the only living Darwin winner.

    I dunno if that picture by the way is real....but if you check the link you will see his grave stone.

    signature image

    Tous pour un, un pour tous

    D A Stankovich

  • D A Stankovich said...

    I dunno if that picture by the way is real....but if you check the link you will see his grave stone.

    No, that's the picture from the stunt yesterday or the day before I'm pretty sure. You can see the oxygen tanks beneath the contraption.

    Larry used surplus weather balloons.

    Oh, and I forgot it was 16,000 feet.

    That is fucking high.

    This post was edited by scmarine84 on 7/15/2012 at 4:21 PM

    scmarine84