'The balloon guy in the lawn chair just flew by...

[Joe Fan]

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[HornsOverIthaca]

It wasn't Mythbusters. That one was confirmed in Pilot #3.

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[Joe Fan]

From Season Two of MythbustersThe Link

"Carried Away"
The Build Team takes on a gag used in many comedic works, where a baby or small child could be lifted into the air and fly away unintentionally when given helium balloons.

Myth statement : A 4 year old child can be lifted by a bunch of party balloons.

Status : Busted

Notes : It would require such a large number of balloons (3,500) to lift an average four-year-old girl (44 lb.) just a few feet off the ground that there is no way the myth could have happened unintentionally.

 

[VacantlyOccupied]

The guy in the story wasn't using little party-sized balloons, he was using huge ones. Are you suggesting that everything in the story is untrue and that all of the witnesses are lying?

 

[Bevo5]

Seems to be two different things. One is a girl who grabbed a bunch of balloons at a carnival or something and floated away. THe other is a dude with some weather balloon-sized helium pouches taking of

 

[BA93]

If only Eric the Midget would get into that chair

 

[BigWill]

Fly me with baloons
so I can meet Kathryn McPhee
I'm a miserable midget and
I'm only two-foot-three...

 

[Joe Fan]

I had to google to see who McPhee is. The second result was "Tyra verfiies McPhee's boobs are real" which is on video. Tyra Banks: Mythbuster.

The Link

 

[Joe Fan]

According to the article, this lawn chair guy uses "150 giant party balloons." Mythbusters apparently used weather balloons for their lawn chair, but regular balloons for the leetle girl. So I guess lawn chair guy's selection is somehere in between? Forced to choose, my inclination would be that giant party balloons are closer in composition to the girl balloons than weather balloons. There are pictures associated with the article, so you can see these balloons for yourself.

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[HornsOverIthaca]

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[Joe Fan]

Some day, someone will try it with a lazyboy and television.

 

[OakHillHorn]

A priest in Brazil tried this a while back with bad results.
Link

 

[naked_bongo]

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[Texanne]

Did he look at all like Jeffrey Tambor?

 

[wolfman]

The balloons on the lawnchair thing was done years ago. I remember seeing him on Johnny Carson after he took his flight.

home.earthlink.net/~quade/lawnchair.html

From The New York Times 3 July 1982

Photo of Lawn Chair Balloon Flight LONG BEACH, Calif, July 2 (AP) A truck driver with 45 weather balloons rigged to a lawn chair took a 45-minute ride aloft to 16,000 feet today before he got cold, shot some balloons out and crashed into a power line, the police said.

"I know it sounds strange, but it's true," Lieut. Rod Mickelson said after he stopped laughing. "The guy just filled up the balloons with helium, strapped on a parachute, grabbed a BB gun and took off."

The man was identified as Larry Walters, 33 years old, of North Hollywood. He was not injured.

The Federal Aviation Administration was not amused.

Spotted by Airline Pilots
A regional safety inpector, Neal Savoy, said the flying lawn chair was spotted by Trans World Airlines and Delta Airlines jetliner pilots at 16,000 feet above sea level.

 

[accuratehorn]

Isn't helium flammable-wouldn't shooting the balloons create a risk of fire? Otherwise, cool idea.

 

[LonghornLawyer]

You're thinking hydrogen.

 

[Montag]

I like how the FAA gets angry, like they own the sky or something.

 

[AUinAustin]

I think I remember seeing an interview with a flight attendant on the Delta flight. She said something like "we were coming in from Asia with a lot of tourists and I am saying welcome to the USA when one of them asks what that was outside the window"

 

[Mrmyke709]

Buncha drunks at Terlingua launching a dummy.

 

[scally]

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