turano@silver.DEC (Tom Turano DTN 231- [Office 4735, Lab 6978]) (08/10/84)
* The story about the guy and the lawnchair with the helium balloons is true. Apparently he connected several balloons to his lawn chair, and took with him as safety equipment a pair of sun glasses, a CB radio for communication and a BB gun for altitude control. On the day of the flight, a stiff wind came up and caused the premature release by his ground crew of the chair with him in it. On his way up he passed several commercial airliners whose conversations with the ground must have been really interesting. I don't remember his final altitude but it was high enough so that he began to freeze. At this point he began shooting out the balloons with the BB gun and managed to place his chair into a group of high tension wires. He suffered minor injuries and was charged with violations of several federal, state and local statutes. I do not know if he has yet gone to trial, but I know what his defense ought to be. Tom Turano Laboratory Data Products DIGITAL