"It is my sincere belief that if the FAA was around when the Wright Brothers were testing their aircraft, they would never have been able to make their first flight at Kitty Hawk." - Larry Walters
Larry Walters, a North Hollywood truck driver, surprised himself and several airline pilots July 2, 1982, when his aluminum lawnchair was lifted to 16,000 feet by 42 weather balloons. The 33-year-old amateur pilot said he didn't really mean to get into the upper atmosphere. He said what he really wanted to do was float from San Pedro (on the Pacific Coast) to the Mojave Desert but things just got out of control.
Apparantly, lawn chairs lack directional stability, so Walters used his "lift spoiler," a pellet gun he had with him, to shoot out the balloons, in order to descend.
It is not known what the airline pilots he passed reported to approach control, but the FAA said after several months of investigation they had concluded that he violated at least four sections of the FAR's, including having an uncertified lawnchair.
The FAA claimed Larry Walters was guilty of operating a "civil aircraft for which there is not currently in effect an airworthiness certificate," and fined him $4,000.
# # #