Stuntman Eddie Braun successfully crossed the Snake River Canyon in his steam-powered rocket.
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A Hollywood stuntman is hoping to do what famous daredevil Evel Knievel never could: jump the Snake River Canyon. The jump will be live-streamed on the Internet. Braun landed safely on the south rim of the canyon, the Twin Falls Times-News reported.
He piloted the “Evel Spirit”, a steam-driven rocket ship patterned after Knievel’s “X2 Skycycle”.
He took off in his rocket, called “Evel Spirit”, and flew almost 2,000ft in the air, clearing Snake River Canyon before floating back to Earth by parachute.
Braun said that even if he doesn’t succeed at first, he will keep trying to jump the canyon until he succeeds. He failed to reach the other side.
The rocket reached an estimated 400 miles per hour (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. He walked away with only minor injuries. Unlike Friday’s launch, Knievel’s jump was heavily promoted, and televised to a national audience on ABC’s Wide World of Sports.
His first attempt will take place on September 17 at Snake River Canyon in Idaho.
“Why am I doing it?” I’m simply finishing out his dream.
“I was so mad at that engineer”.
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This jump mirrored Knievel’s in nearly every way, including the technology. Many residents remember Knievel’s promise of a weeklong festival complete with celebrities and a golf tournament. Although the 50,000 spectators he said would show up didn’t materialize, those who came upset locals by skinny-dipping, partying excessively and fighting. The daredevil was later accused of leaving town without paying debts to area businesses. In a 2007 column, he summed up his memories: “Far from historic, it was three days of insanity best forgotten”.
