In 1982, Larry Walters attached 42 weather balloons to a lawn chair, sat down, and soared to 16,000 feet, drifting into the airspace of Los Angeles International Airport. Despite having no formal aviation or ballooning training, Walters miraculously survived his adventure and escaped with only a $1,500 fine.

Today, a new breed of fliers is taking that historic flight to heart. TechTV caught up with one of them this weekend at Whamobass, a hot-air balloon festival. On "Tech Live" tonight, see how their daring enthusiasm is helping launch a new trend in aerial sport.

It's 4:30 a.m. on the edge of California's Central Valley. It's chilly and dark, but a crowd gathers anyway. Everyone's up before dawn to see a world-famous flyer practice his unusual specialty.

John Ninomiya is a cluster balloonist -- one of just a handful worldwide. He once rode a cluster of balloons to an altitude of 21,000 feet. He got his start in normal hot-air ballooning, and is a licensed balloon pilot.

Although the chair-riding Larry Walters is one of the pioneers of this budding sport, he's not known as a model for safety. This is a sport for experts only.

"This is the harness that I sit in," Ninomiya explains as he picks up something that looks like a backpack. "This is actually a harness designed for paragliding, which is another sport that I participate in. It has back protector in case I get dragged around on landing. It also has a reserve parachute."

Ninomiya says he's inspired by The Red Balloon, a whimsical and famous French film about a little boy who becomes friends with a red balloon. Today, Ninomiya plans to launch himself into the skies above Coalinga, California, with 84 balloons. He's got lots of helium and a homemade system for controlling the cluster that includes masking tape, bags of water for ballast, climbing carabiners, and a way to pop balloons or cut them loose.

"I have knives," he says, in case he wants to descend or level out. "They are all on lanyards which go around my neck, which is an important concept." It's important in case he drops one. So far, however, Ninomiya has never let go of anything while floating.

As the sun rises, Ninomiya's cluster takes shape. With 84 separate strings, it's a masterpiece of precision and planning. He bounces in place, tethered to the ground as his crew chief makes final preparations. Quietly, he lets go.

"Look at that -- there he goes!" exclaims a man in the crowd. "Whoa! Isn't that great?"

Ninomiya has calculated his weight and lift perfectly, so he floats effortlessly upward. A neighboring hot-air balloon flies with him, documenting his trip.

A few minutes later, he cuts loose several balloons to level out at about 3,500 feet and to enjoy the view, taking pictures along the way.

About 90 minutes later, Ninomiya touches down fairly close to where he lifted off, his goofy and absolutely wonderful dream of flight fulfilled once again.