The SmithsonianIn the summer of 1982, Larry Walters took a lawn chair into the sky.

A man flying in the sky solely by rising with balloons is something you might encounter in children's stories. However, for Californian Larry Walters, this was a reality.

On July 2, 1982, 33-year-old Walters launched himself into the sky by tying large balloons to a lawn chair. Planning a short flight, Walters brought along some beer, a sandwich, a radio, and a BB gun.

However, Walters thought he could only rise a short distance, but the rope tying him to the ground suddenly snapped. As a result, Walters ascended to 16,000 feet and attempted a rough landing by popping some of his balloons. Ultimately, he landed safely.

This is the crazy story of Lawnchair Larry Walters and his surprise flight over Los Angeles in 1982.

The Dream of Flying Becomes Reality

Born on April 19, 1949, in Los Angeles, California, Larry Walters had long harbored the dream of touching the sky.

According to an interview he gave to New Yorker magazine in 1998, this dream was born when Walters visited Disneyland at the age of eight or nine. There, he saw a woman holding “a zillion” Mickey Mouse balloons. Something sparked in Walters' mind.

“I know, that’s when the idea developed,” Walters told the magazine. “So, if you get enough, they’ll lift you up!”

By the time Walters turned 13, he had started making his own hydrogen generators. When he saw a hot air balloon in a military surplus store, he believed that these large balloons could easily lift a person.

Touring Club Italiano/Wikimedia CommonsTwo men with a hot air balloon in the 1950s. When Larry Walters saw these types of balloons, he believed that the large enough ones could lift a person.

Initially, his curiosity about flying would lead him to become a pilot, but Walters' poor vision closed that path. Instead, he worked as a cook in the army during the Vietnam War.

However, in 1972, Walters realized that if he wanted to fly, he needed to put his plan into action. And he did.

Over the next decade, Walters collected “a very sturdy lawn chair,” 45 large balloons, and several water bottles to help with weight distribution. He named the lawn chair arrangement Inspiration I.

And soon, Lawnchair Larry Walters would rise into the sky.

The Famous Flight of Lawnchair Larry Walters

On July 2, 1982, Larry Walters prepared to fly with his lawn chair arrangement. He planned to fly over the San Pedro neighborhood for a while, enjoy the view, and then return. He had a parachute, a camera, a CB radio, a BB gun to pop the balloons, and a cooler containing a sandwich, soda, and beer with him.

But things did not go as planned.

National Air and Space MuseumLarry Walters’ lawn chair.

Walters had used a rope to tie his lawn chair to the ground. But as he began to ascend, the rope snapped. With nothing left on the ground, Larry Walters began to rise even higher into the sky.

From the ground, his girlfriend tried to convince him to abort the mission. But Walters was exactly where he wanted to be.

“I didn’t want to deal with her because after all this — my life, the money we spent on this — there was no turning back. I was definitely going to have a good time up there.”

And that’s exactly what Walters did. He sat in his lawn chair and enjoyed the view. He had brought a camera with him but was so immersed in the experience that he didn’t use it. As he climbed higher, the view was surreal.

“I could see the orange pipes of Queen Mary. I could see Howard Hughes’ giant seaplane Spruce Goose, alongside two commercial tugs,” Walters recalled to New Yorker. “Then, higher up, the oil tanks of the naval base looked like small dots. In the distance, Catalina Island… I had this camera but didn’t take any photos. It was a personal thing. I just wanted the memory – it was that vivid.”

However, Lawnchair Larry Walters quickly realized that going up was easy, but coming down was not so easy.

Challenges in Returning to Earth

When Larry Walters reached 15,000 feet, the air around him began to cool and thin.

He decided to come down. Walters used the firework gun he had brought to pop a few of his large balloons in hopes of initiating a controlled descent. However, when Walters placed the firework gun on his knee, a gust of wind blew. Walters lurched forward, and the gun fell from his hand.

“To this day, I can see it falling — shrinking toward the houses, three miles down — and I thought, ‘I hope there’s no one down there,’” Walters recalled.

With no other way to pop the balloons, Walters was stuck. But as he pondered whether it was time to use the parachute he had brought, some of the remaining balloons began to leak. When he reached 16,000 feet, the lounge chair began to slowly descend toward the ground.

National Air and Space MuseumLarry Walters used water bottles to help with weight distribution.

The danger was not completely over; without the firework gun, there was no way for Larry Walters to regulate his altitude. He connected with a bewildered air traffic emergency responder via radio, who didn’t quite understand what type of aircraft Walters was using.

“The challenge is that this is an unauthorized balloon launch,” Walters told them. “I’m aware that I’m violating the general airspace. I’m sure my ground crew has informed the authorities, but can you just tell me I’m okay?”

Walters continued to try to control his descent, even attempting to cut some water bottles with a knife. However, he began to descend rapidly toward the power lines and narrowly escaped electrocution when the balloons got tangled in the wires.

“If I had gone in a little higher, the lounge chair would have collided with the wires, and I would have been electrocuted,” Larry Walters recalled. “I could have died, and God knows what would have happened!”

Larry Walters Returns to Earth – And Faces Some Issues

YouTubeAfter his flight, Larry Walters appeared on Late Night With David Letterman.

Larry Walters had safely landed the lounge chair arrangement. However, he then encountered Long Beach Police, who informed him that he would soon hear from the Federal Aviation Administration (F.A.A.).

“We know he violated some sections of the Federal Aviation Act, and as soon as we determine which section, a charge will be filed,” said F.A.A. Safety Inspector Neal Savoy, according to The New York Times. “If he had a pilot’s license, we would suspend it, but he doesn’t.”

Not quite knowing what to do with the lounge chair, Walters gave it to a kid in the neighborhood. He then reunited with his girlfriend and returned home.

Initially, he was fined $4,000 (equivalent to $13,000 today) for “flying without two-way communication with the control tower.” However, Walters appealed, and the fine was later reduced to $1,500 (equivalent to $5,000 today). Meanwhile, Walters’ intriguing flight arrangement and story made him a minor celebrity.

He earned the nickname “Lawnchair Larry” and was invited to The Tonight Show and Late Night With David Letterman. As a less flattering recognition, he received an honorary award at the 1982 Darwin Awards and won first place from the Bonehead Club in Dallas.

Lawnchair Larry tried to take advantage of his fame and decided to quit being a truck driver to become a motivational speaker. Unfortunately, he was unable to successfully launch his speaking career and struggled to make money from conferences later in his life.

Wikimedia CommonsLarry Walters inspired others to recreate his experience, which is known as cluster ballooning.

Sadly, Lawnchair Larry committed suicide in October 1993, about a decade later. However, his legacy continues to live on. Walters' legendary flight led to the birth of an extreme sport called cluster ballooning, where participants are tethered to a chair and attached to helium balloons.

Others inspired by Larry Walters also made similar flights, including Mike Howard and Steve Davis, who currently hold the Guinness World Record for the highest altitude achieved in cluster ballooning. Another person following in Walters' footsteps is Jonathan Trappe, who reached an altitude of 14,783 feet by tying 54 balloons to an office chair and landing in a field 50 miles away.

What happened to Lawnchair Larry's famous lawn chair? Neighboring child Jerry Fleck kept it all this time. In 2019, he donated it to the National Air and Space Museum, where it is still on display today.

After his flight, Larry Walters became an inspiration for many people to realize their dreams.