Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 09:35:16 -0400
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu>
To: <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Lawn Chair Larry
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

> StrongL at MTMC.ARMY.MIL 06/27/03 07:53AM >>>
>
>	So the test pilot was on helium when he did this?

More like under the influence . . .

mjw

>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Steve Smith [mailto:sgs at aginc.net]
>Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2003 5:44 PM
>To: WSFA members
>Subject: [WSFA] Re: Lawn Chair Larry
>
>ronkean at juno.com wrote:
>
>> Years ago, I bought one surplus rubber weather balloon by mail order.  =
It
>> may well have been the same nominal size as the ones in the story.  It
>> broke when I blew it up with air to test it, perhaps because the rubber
>> had deteriorated by being stored too long.
>
>A couple of months ago, I caught one of those "we do stupid things so
>you don't have to" TV shows where they attempted to recreate "Lawn =
Chair
>Larry's" flight.  They were able to do it (tethered, max height about =
70
>feet), including shooting out balloons to land.
>
>Biggest problem they had was that the surplus weather baloons had
>deteriorated to the point where they nearly blew their helium budget
>when too many of the half-filled balloons broke.
>
>--
>Steve Smith                                           sgs at aginc.net
>Agincourt Computing                            http://www.aginc.net
>"Truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense."
>