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FlashDrive
14-03-2013, 01:01 PM
Many years ago ..(..Printed in the Amateur Radio Magazine in 1997 ) ...this really happened ...although the Story was kinda ... stretched a bit....but none the less did happen.

I was going through some of my old Radio Books and remembered keeping this because it was so funny .....:D

I hope you can read it ok.

Enjoy.....Flash ..!! :D

PCH
14-03-2013, 01:22 PM
Priceless Colin - a real combination of daring and a bit of stupidity. Gotta admire his spirit though.

Thanks for sharing that, it really put a smile of my face :)

Kunama
14-03-2013, 01:45 PM
Danny Deckchair rides again!

Octane
14-03-2013, 02:40 PM
http://www.snopes.com/travel/airline/walters.asp

It's true. :O

H

Larryp
14-03-2013, 02:48 PM
Great story, Colin!

leon
14-03-2013, 04:00 PM
Love it, put a smile on my face.

Leon

koputai
14-03-2013, 04:14 PM
Nope, the movie Danny Deckchair was inspired by the real Larry story 21 years earlier.

Cheers,
Jason.

blink138
14-03-2013, 04:52 PM
ha ha! dont you think this could be an urban myth flash? because it summises that he failed an eye test but passed the IQ test!
pat

OICURMT
14-03-2013, 05:16 PM
:shrug:

blink138
14-03-2013, 06:28 PM
:shrug:

clive milne
14-03-2013, 07:26 PM
For a start, 45 cubic m of helium doesn't even have half the buoyancy required to get a grown man off the ground. Secondly, the ascent rate quoted translates to 90km/h in a vertical direction. (wind resistance?)

I suspect if you jumped off a building with that number of balloons you might actually reach 90km/h (albeit in a downwards direction)

~c

FlashDrive
15-03-2013, 12:31 AM
Who really cares ..this event did happen and was documented .........lighten up and enjoy the Story ............your a real ' kill joy ' aren't you.
What is it with people who want to pick things to bits for the sake of doing so.........such negativity.

Flash ...!!

Stardrifter_WA
15-03-2013, 01:07 AM
I agree Colin, true or not, it is a fun story. At least it led to an amusing movie, so there must be some fact there. Or is it someone wild imagination? Who cares, as you say, it is an amusing story, either way.

Cheers Peter :)

Jay-qu
15-03-2013, 06:07 AM
Well there is a pretty extensive Wiki page about him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Walters

Unfortunately the story has a sad ending...

FlashDrive
15-03-2013, 08:00 AM
Thanks for the link ....tragic ending ....what can I say ...if only someone was there for him.

Flash ..!!

OICURMT
15-03-2013, 08:31 AM
I can't find a reference anywhere to 45 m^3... only 45 weather ballons...

Can you point out where the volume is listed?

FlashDrive
15-03-2013, 08:46 AM
Good point ...I noticed that also ...but refrained from starting a ' tit for tat ' ....but seeing it has been bought up ....would Clive like to step forward and show us how ' knowledgeable ' he is and how he came to his conclusion.

Thanks OICURMT ....at least there are people like yourself here who do read the article PROPERLY ..

Flash ...!!

PCH
15-03-2013, 02:12 PM
Well guys. the article does say quite clearly that he had the 45 ballons .... each about 4 feet across when inflated.

As far as I can tell, that would make them almost 1 cubic meter each without splitting hairs, assuming of course that these balloons are roughly spherical.

Octane
15-03-2013, 03:26 PM
The reason why I often check Snopes, is not to be a killjoy, but, to prevent bogus stories being taken as gospel by gullible people.

I really don't know why I do. Maybe it's just OCD on my part. My apologies. ;(

H

clive milne
15-03-2013, 09:00 PM
I thought it would have been obvious.... but here it is;
A 4' sphere has a volume of slightly less than 1 cubic metre, but let's just call it 1m3 for the sake of argument. The density of air is 1.2kg/m3 (at 20C) Helium has approximately 1/7th the density of air, therefore 45 balloons of 1m3 capacity filled with helium will have a lifting capacity of around 40kg... give or take.

Whilst the following pertains to the second guy, it is instructive with respective to the accuracy of the information conveyed in the snopes page. The ascent rate quoted is 1000' in 12 seconds, this is 90km/h. For a thought experiment imagine you have a balloon 4' in diameter tied to some string. Could you imagine driving down the freeway at this speed with this critter trailing behind you. Do you imagine the drag of the balloon would exert as little as 1kg of tension on your piece of string? Nope... not going to happen.

There is no doubt some element of truth to the story, but the articles that have described it simply cannot be accurate, it's physically impossible.

blink138
16-03-2013, 12:07 AM
myth busted ????
pat

FlashDrive
16-03-2013, 12:31 AM
Fair enough Clive ....I withdraw any criticisms on my part.

Flash ..!!

simmo
16-03-2013, 12:36 PM
Who cares if its real or not? Doesn't just a little part of you want to be that guy? What a rush! :scared: Maybe seeing a jumbo headed straight towards you might be life changing :eyepop:but there's a part of me that is like yeh give it a go:evil2: Only mistake the guy made was not taking a telescope with him :lol:

Keep it up Flash, At least you have a sense of humour. :thumbsup:

Cheers
Simmo ;)

simmo
17-03-2013, 01:08 PM
If you read wiki article it says that the balloons were 8ft across.

"reporters" :screwy:

Perhaps then double your mass available to be lifted and its a goer. :thumbsup:

Maybe I should be a detective? Invoice in the mail Flash! :lol:

Simmo ;)

MrB
17-03-2013, 02:32 PM
Funny you should say that because MythBusters recreated it and it worked for them, with 'Buster' the crash-test dummy as a 'pilot' (payload? ;))
From memory(they did it years ago) it was Myth "Confirmed" or "Plausible" but not "Busted" as they also confirmed the story as true.

I will see if I can find which Season/Episode of MythBusters it was.

EDIT:
It was one of the pilot episodes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_MythBusters_pilot_episodes# Pilot_3_.E2.80.93_.22Larry.27s_Lawn _Chair_Balloon.2C_Poppy_Seed_Drug_T est.2C_Goldfinger.22), seems it was Adam Savage and not 'Buster' that went for a tethered flight :D Hey, it was 10 years ago so my memory wasn't too great ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC-Km7aUjgc

PCH
17-03-2013, 05:14 PM
Actually Simmo, double the diameter equals 8x the volume.

Cube 1cmx1cmx1cm = 1cm3

Cube 2cmx2cmx2cm = 8cm3

That could help with the lift power :thumbsup:

Just my 2c