Ted's Dream to Fly
Ted Brown's dream as a child was an unusual one: he wanted to fly. What was more unusual was the way in which he made his dream come true.
After high school, he wanted to join the U.S. Air Force but he failed because of his poor eyesight. However, his dream remained.
At the age of 33, Ted was a truck driver in Los Angeles. One day, while sitting outside in his garden, he watched planes fly overhead and an idea came to him: to use balloons to fly.
A few weeks later, Ted bought 42 huge balloons. He tied them to chair and then he sat down in the chair with some beer, sandwiches and a gun. His plan was to fly to 10 meters above his garden, enjoy a few hours in the air, and then shoot some balloons with his gun to get back down. But things did not go as he planned.
Once his friends cut the ropes under Ted's chair, the 42 balloons flew into the sky at an astonishing speed until about 4000 meters above the ground with Ted and his chair. He didn't shoot any of the balloons because he was afraid he might break the balance of his "plane". Ted stayed in the sky with his beer and sandwiches for 14 hours, cold and frightened.
Planes heading towards Los Angeles' busy international airport reported the strange sight. And Ted's balloons caused great danger to them. At last, Ted gathered his courage to shoot a few balloons and slowly landed on the ground, where many policemen were waiting for him.
Ted made his dream come true, but it cost him: he was fined $1,500 for breaking the law about air safety.
When asked by a reporter why he had done it, Ted answered, "A man can't just sit around and do nothing, he should have his dream and go for it.
