Posted on 09/28/2004 6:36:19 PM PDT by KevinDavis
This is going to be a live thread for tomorrows launch of Spaceship one...
**rolling eyes** ugh.
Truck Driver Takes to Skies in Lawn Chair
From The New York Times 3 July 1982
LONG BEACH, Calif, July 2 (AP) A truck driver with 45 weather balloons rigged to a lawn chair took a 45-minute ride aloft to 16,000 feet today before he got cold, shot some balloons out and crashed into a power line, the police said.
"I know it sounds strange, but it's true," Lieut. Rod Mickelson said after he stopped laughing. "The guy just filled up the balloons with helium, strapped on a parachute, grabbed a BB gun and took off."
The man was identified as Larry Walters, 33 years old, of North Hollywood. He was not injured.
The Federal Aviation Administration was not amused.
Spotted by Airline Pilots
A regional safety inpector, Neal Savoy, said the flying lawn chair was spotted by Trans World Airlines and Delta Airlines jetliner pilots at 16,000 feet above sea level.
"We know he broke some part of the Federal Aviation Act, and as soon as we decide which part it is, some type of charge will be filed," Mr. Savoy said. "If he had a pilot's license, we'd suspend that. But he doesn't."
The police said Mr. Walters went to a friend's house in San Pedro Thursday night, inflated 45 six-foot weather balloons and attached them to an aluminum lawn chair tethered to the ground.
This morning, with half a dozen friends holding the tethers, he donned a parachute, strapped himself into the chair and had his friends let him up slowly.
Minutes later, he was calling for help over his citizens band radio.
"This guy broke into our channel with a mayday," said Doug Dixon, a member of an Orange County citizens band radio club. "He said he had shot up like an elevator to 16,000 feet and was getting numb before he started shooting out some of the balloons."
Mr. Walters then lost his pistol overboard, and the chair drifted downward, controlled only by the gallon jugs of water attached to the sides as ballast.
The ropes became entangled in a power line, briefly blacking out a small area in Long Beach. The chair dangled five feet above the ground, and Mr. Walters was able to get down safely.
"Since I was 13 years old, I've dreamed of going up into the clear blue sky in a weather balloon," he said. "By the grace of God, I fulfilled my dream. But I wouldn't do this again for anything."
I'm surprised he didn't pass out due to the thin air before that.
A man of vision, no doubt!
You proably remember the B&H store on Courtney. After the successful STS-1 launch, many of the team went down there and had a big druunken party. There were so many of them whooping and hollering that they spilled out into the street and closed off SR 3.
The old console logbooks from those days are still right there in the firing room! I spent a lot of third shifts reading what it was like in the hand of the engineers who sat console that day.
Is our friend Ted working for Fox News now? The announcer at the launch scene said weightlessness begins at 200,000 feet.
Patrick: this is for the ping list
1435 GMT (10:35 a.m. EDT)
White Knight is climbing to the launch altitude by making wide circles over Mojave.
This twin-engine turbojet craft made its first flight in August 2002.
In addition to being the mothership to launch SpaceShipOne today, the White Knight's flying characteristics -- thrust-to-weight ratio and speed brakes -- allow it to be used as a flight simulator for SpaceShipOne pilot training.
I'm trying to watch online in Nicaragua on a cable modem, but all websites are very jerky & intermittent, except the Kern Government site at:
http://www.co.kern.ca.us/gsd/kgov/internettv.asp.
The video quality is not great, but both the video & audio are fairly constant.
The NASA admin, Sean O'Keefe just spoke there. They've come a long way from anti-commercial attitude of Dan Goldin.
Looks like it's been slashdotted... :-(
FYI: Thanks for the link, this works great. Getting all the radio comms. You will need winamp to use this service though.
OOH!! I AM ELITE !! I always new it deep down inside...
There will always be a need for NASA but Mr. O'Keefe knows that is now time to step aside and let the true engine of creativity and discovery take over, the entrepreneur.
Amazing.....ROFL!
GO SS1!
I have a 5 year old daughter and my best friend have a 2 year old boy. I tell my friend that our kids actually have the oppurtunity to grow up to be space pilots now. What incredible times we live in.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.