A Hot-air Balloon exhibited by an unidentified aerialist at Fargo, North Dakota – from an empty lot on the 300 block of Broadway next to the Fargo Lime & Fuel Co. – circa 1899. Possibly associated with the “Fargo Fire Festival”, an annual event celebrating Fargo’s rebuilding after a devastating fire which took place in June 1893.
Paris, 1870 balloon
During the Prussian siege, in September 1870 balloon was the only way of getting mail and people out of the city.
During the siege of Paris in 1870, sixty-six balloons left the city, mostly at night, carrying more than 100 VIP refugees, 9 tons of mail and over 400 carrier pigeons.
Only 7 of them failed to reach safety; and the 57 pigeons that managed to find their way back to the city carried in about 100,000 messages on microfilm.
Constructed by Italian aeronautical pioneer Count Francesco Zambeccari, who had served as an officer in the Spanish navy, fought against the Turks in 1787, and after three years of captivity in a Constantinople prison devoted himself to the study of lighter-than-air flight. Between 1803 and 1812 he made a number of ascents with balloons of his own conception. The balloons used were of the type known as rozières, consisting of hot air balloon in combination with a gas bag, the latter giving a constant buoyancy, while ascent and descent could be accomplished by regulating the flame of the hot air balloon, without expending gas or ballast. This was of course a very dangerous mixture. Zambeccari had several accidents and his death in 1912 was caused by burns suffered during the last of them.
Built by J.N. West in the UK, the West Hell Fire was a 20,000 cu.ft hot air balloon registered G-BCFD c/n JW.1.
Sunny Boy, a 43-metre high sun-flower, piloted by American Carol Weiner.
In 1982, Larry Walters decided to try his flying idea in a homemade airship made of an ordinary patio chair and 45 helium-filled weather balloons. His intention was to float over the Mojave Desert and then use a pellet gun to burst some of the balloons in order to land.
In mid-1982, Walters and his girlfriend at the time, Carol Van Deusen, purchased 45 eight-foot (2.4 m) weather balloons and obtained helium tanks from California Toy Time Balloons. They used a forged requisition from his employer, FilmFair Studios, saying the balloons were for a television commercial.
On July 2, 1982 Walters attached the balloons to his lawn chair, filled them with helium, put on a parachute, and strapped himself into the chair in the backyard of a home at 1633 West 7th Street in San Pedro. For stability, the chair was weighted with water bottles and tilted backwards about 40 degrees. He took his pellet gun, a CB radio, sandwiches, beer, and a camera. When his friends cut the cord that tied his lawn chair to his Jeep, Walters’s lawn chair rose rapidly to a height of about 16,000 feet (4,900 m) and was spotted from two commercial airliners. He slowly drifted over Long Beach and crossed the primary approach corridor of Long Beach Airport.
He was in contact with REACT, a citizens band radio monitoring organization, who recorded their conversation:
REACT: What information do you wish me to tell [the airport] at this time as to your location and your difficulty?
Larry: Ah, the difficulty is, ah, this was an unauthorized balloon launch, and, uh, I know I’m in a federal airspace, and, uh, I’m sure my ground crew has alerted the proper authority. But, uh, just call them and tell them I’m okay.
After 45 minutes in the sky, Walters shot several balloons, taking care to not unbalance the load. He then accidentally dropped his pellet gun overboard. He descended slowly, until the balloons’ dangling cables got caught in a power line at 432 45th Street in Long Beach. The power line broke, causing a 20-minute electricity blackout. He landed unharmed on the ground.
Walters was immediately arrested by waiting members of the Long Beach Police Department. Regional safety inspector Neal Savoy was reported to have said, “We know he broke some part of the Federal Aviation Act, and as soon as we decide which part it is, some type of charge will be filed. If he had a pilot’s license, we’d suspend that, but he doesn’t.” Walters initially was fined $4,000 for violations under U.S. Federal Aviation Regulations, including operating an aircraft within an airport traffic area “without establishing and maintaining two-way communications with the control tower.” Walters appealed, and the fine was reduced to $1,500. A charge of operating a “civil aircraft for which there is not currently in effect an airworthiness certificate” was dropped, as it was not applicable to his class of aircraft.
Just after landing, Walters spoke to the press, saying:
It was something I had to do. I had this dream for twenty years, and if I hadn’t done it, I think I would have ended up in the funny farm.
The aircraft was dubbed Inspiration I. Lawn Chair Larry was awarded the title of “At-Risk Survivor” in the 1993 Darwin Awards.
After his flight, Walters was briefly in demand as a motivational speaker, and quit his job as a truck driver. He was featured in a Timex print ad in the early 1990s, but never made much money from his fame.
The lawn chair used in the flight was reportedly given to an admiring boy named Jerry, though Walters regretted doing so when the Smithsonian Institution asked him to donate it to its museum. Twenty years later, Jerry sent an email to Mark Barry, a pilot who had documented Walters’ story and dedicated a website to it, and identified himself. The chair was still sitting in his garage, attached to some of the original tethers and water jugs used as ballast. The chair was on loan to the San Diego Air and Space Museum, on exhibition through 2014.
The flight attracted worldwide media attention and inspired a later movie and imitators.
Lawrence Richard Walters (born April 19, 1949 Los Angeles, California) had often dreamed of flying, but was unable to become a pilot in the United States Air Force because of his poor eyesight. He first thought of using weather balloons to fly at age 13, after seeing them hanging from the ceiling of a military surplus store. He had a career as an American truck driver.
A 45-minute successful flight of Larry Walters on July 2, 1982 was in a homemade airship made of an ordinary patio chair and 45 helium-filled weather balloons.
After his flight, Walters was briefly in demand as a motivational speaker, and quit his job as a truck driver. He was featured in a Timex print ad in the early 1990s, but never made much money from his fame.
Later in his life, Walters hiked the San Gabriel Mountains and did volunteer work for the United States Forest Service. He later broke up with his girlfriend of 15 years and could only find work sporadically as a security guard.
On October 6, 1993, at the age of 44, Walters committed suicide by shooting himself in the heart in Angeles National Forest. He left no suicide note. His remains are interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills, in the Columbarium of Valor. Walters had no children.
After more than ten years in the makng, ‘Iwi the Kiwi’ made its first flight in 2011 at Bristol. Standing 7 storys high the balloon was constructed by Rick Walcczak at his Carterton, New Zealand home. Iwi was built by a team that included a former Mayor of Masterton, NZ, Bob Francis, and Wairarapa Development Group chairman Shane McManaway.
Mr Walczak planned to fly the balloon at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico during October 2011, before bringing Iwi the Kiwi back to New Zealand.
In 2004, Rick Walczak flew his Egg balloon up to, and around Mount Cook, New Zealand. In the process he set New Zealand records for balloon height and speed.
2011: Carteton, New Zealand. Rick Walczak had been balloon flying for over 30 years, being self taught.
All Aero 