http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_131.html
This was fictionalized in the movie Danny Deckchair three years ago… anyone see it? The preview made it seem pretty light-hearted (no helium pun intended), as I remember. Was the original deckchair guy credited in the movie?
In the aftermath of poor Larry’s 90 minute flight, the meteoric plunge of his remaining life is a cautionary tale. Larry got high without drugs, and look what happened! :eek:
I am pretty sure that when Cutter John repeated this in his wheel chair that Berke Breathed did not give poor Larry credit either.
Yes! Obvious unspoken moral to the story: keep your chair firmly planted on your porch and smoke some weed.
What a great story! If you listen to the audio tape of the CB radio traffic with Larry on this site, it’s unbelievable how calm Larry is during the whole flight, chatting idly on his CB. What a character! Two commercial airline pilots reported seeing a man floating in a lawn chair holding a gun at 16000ft. It’s hilarious! It’s people like this that… that… give credence to urban legends…? Wherever you are, rest in peace Larry the Lawn Chair Pilot and stay proud.
I actually tried to do this when I was a kid with trash bags and candles. It wasn’t too long after I melted my first trash bag that I figured out this method of flying wouldn’t work. :rolleyes:
Mr. Wizard or The A-Team?
Not Mr. Wizard, we didn’t have cable back then. Maybe A-Team. 
Why is that article dated 28-Oct-1988 if Cecil describes the death of Larry in 1993?
Columns sometimes get appended with (undated) new information and retain their oritinal print date.
Larry’s flight was also recreated in one of the very first episodes of Mythbusters, with Adam Savage standing in for Larry. Amazing episode.
Watch Mr. Wizard premiered on NBC, March 3, 1951.
Note that he wants his friend to notify LAX, but he’s closer to Long Beach airport.
I did not know that, I only heard of him from the early days of Nickelodeon.
He was a B24 bomber pilot in WW2 also!
Ah.
I suppose I should have assumed that.
Note also that this historic event is recreated in an episode of the Discovery Channel show MythBusters. Unfortunately in their case the tether does not break; Adam only reaches an altitude of about 75 feet. Still, the episode gives you an appreciation for the logistics involved.
The Nickelodeon series contained an experiment with a drycleaning bag and a bit of Sterno.