D
Dick Reece
Guest
Larry Walters is among the relatively few who have actually turned their
dreams into reality. His story is true, though you may find it hard to
believe.
Larry was a truck driver, but his lifelong dream was to fly. When he
graduated from high school, he joined the Air Force in hopes of becoming a
pilot. Unfortunately, poor eyesight disqualified him. So when he finally
left the service, he had to satisfy himself with watching others fly the
fighter jets that crisscrossed the skies over his backyard. As he sat there
in his lawn chair, he dreamed about the magic of flying.
Then one day, Larry Walters got an idea. He went down to the local Army-Navy
surplus store and bought a tank of helium and forty-five weather balloons.
These were not your brightly colored party balloons, these were heave-duty
spheres measuring more than four feet across when fully inflated. Back in
his yard, Larry used straps to attach the balloons to his lawn chair, the
kind you might have in your own back yard.
He anchored the chair to the bumper of his jeep and inflated the balloons
with helium. Then he packed some sandwiches and drinks and loaded a BB gun,
figuring he could pop a few of those balloons when it was time to return to
earth.
His preparations complete, Larry Walters sat in his chair and cut the
anchoring cord. His plan was to lazily float back down to terra firma. But
things didn't quite work out that way.
When Larry cut the cord, he didn't float lazily up; he shot up as if fired
from a cannon! Nor did he go up a couple hundred feet. He climbed and
climbed until he finally leveled off at eleven thousand feet! At that
height, he could hardly risk deflating any of the balloons, lest he
unbalance the load and really experience flying! So he stayed up there,
sailing around for fourteen hours, totally at a loss as to how to get down.
Eventually, Larry drifted into the approach corridor for Los Angeles
International Airport. A Pan Am pilot radioed the tower about passing a guy
in a lawn chair at eleven thousand feet with a gun in his lap. (Now there's
a conversation I'd have given anything to have heard!)
LAX is right on the ocean, and you may know that at nightfall, the winds on
the coast begin to change. So, as dusk fell, Larry began drifting out to
sea.
At that point, the Navy dispatched a helicopter to rescue him. But the
rescue team had a hard time getting to him, because the draft from their
propeller kept pushing his homemade contraption farther and farther away.
Eventually they were able to hover over him and drop a rescue line with
which they gradually hauled him back to earth.
As soon as Larry hit the ground, he was arrested. But as he was being led
away in handcuffs, a television reported called out, "Mr. Walters, why'd you
do it?"
Larry stopped, eyed the man, then replied nonchalantly, "A man can't just
sit around."
dreams into reality. His story is true, though you may find it hard to
believe.
Larry was a truck driver, but his lifelong dream was to fly. When he
graduated from high school, he joined the Air Force in hopes of becoming a
pilot. Unfortunately, poor eyesight disqualified him. So when he finally
left the service, he had to satisfy himself with watching others fly the
fighter jets that crisscrossed the skies over his backyard. As he sat there
in his lawn chair, he dreamed about the magic of flying.
Then one day, Larry Walters got an idea. He went down to the local Army-Navy
surplus store and bought a tank of helium and forty-five weather balloons.
These were not your brightly colored party balloons, these were heave-duty
spheres measuring more than four feet across when fully inflated. Back in
his yard, Larry used straps to attach the balloons to his lawn chair, the
kind you might have in your own back yard.
He anchored the chair to the bumper of his jeep and inflated the balloons
with helium. Then he packed some sandwiches and drinks and loaded a BB gun,
figuring he could pop a few of those balloons when it was time to return to
earth.
His preparations complete, Larry Walters sat in his chair and cut the
anchoring cord. His plan was to lazily float back down to terra firma. But
things didn't quite work out that way.
When Larry cut the cord, he didn't float lazily up; he shot up as if fired
from a cannon! Nor did he go up a couple hundred feet. He climbed and
climbed until he finally leveled off at eleven thousand feet! At that
height, he could hardly risk deflating any of the balloons, lest he
unbalance the load and really experience flying! So he stayed up there,
sailing around for fourteen hours, totally at a loss as to how to get down.
Eventually, Larry drifted into the approach corridor for Los Angeles
International Airport. A Pan Am pilot radioed the tower about passing a guy
in a lawn chair at eleven thousand feet with a gun in his lap. (Now there's
a conversation I'd have given anything to have heard!)
LAX is right on the ocean, and you may know that at nightfall, the winds on
the coast begin to change. So, as dusk fell, Larry began drifting out to
sea.
At that point, the Navy dispatched a helicopter to rescue him. But the
rescue team had a hard time getting to him, because the draft from their
propeller kept pushing his homemade contraption farther and farther away.
Eventually they were able to hover over him and drop a rescue line with
which they gradually hauled him back to earth.
As soon as Larry hit the ground, he was arrested. But as he was being led
away in handcuffs, a television reported called out, "Mr. Walters, why'd you
do it?"
Larry stopped, eyed the man, then replied nonchalantly, "A man can't just
sit around."
