Posts: 42981 From: Houston, TX Registered: Nov 1999
posted 09-18-2016 12:41 AM
Stuntman Eddie Braun (cS: Crsh4Csh) successfully rode a rocket-powered craft over Snake River Canyon in Idaho on Friday (Sept. 16), completing what his boyhood idol, Evel Knievel, could not do.
Braun soared over the southern Idaho canyon in a custom-built rocket dubbed "Evel Spirit."
It launched off a steep ramp on the edge of the canyon rim just before 4 p.m. as hundreds of onlookers watched.
The rocket reached an estimated 400 mph (644 kph) before its parachute deployed, allowing Braun and the ship to land safely in fields on the other side of the 1,400 foot-wide (427 meters-wide) canyon.
...Braun has said the rocket was identical to the model Knievel used for his failed canyon attempt on Sept. 8, 1974. Knievel landed at the bottom of the canyon when his parachute prematurely deployed partway across the canyon, but walked away with only minor injuries. The spot where Knievel jumped was 1,600 feet (488 meters) wide.
Braun hoped his effort would prove that Knievel could have made it across the canyon if his parachute had deployed at the correct time.
Braun's "Evil Spirit" was built by Scott Truax, whose father constructed the original "X2 Skycycle" for Knievel. Truax followed his father's blueprints, deviating only by updating the parachute system.
Blackarrow Member
Posts: 3118 From: Belfast, United Kingdom Registered: Feb 2002
posted 11-21-2017 08:33 PM
Wow! I never expected to see that! Evel Knievel can now rest in peace.