After launching the rocket, dubbed Evel Spirit, he travelled at an estimated 400mph before its parachute deployed safety bringing Mr Braun and the craft down to earth on the other side of the canyon, in southern Idaho.
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This jump mirrored Knievel’s in nearly every way, including the technology.
But just in case, he asked his young son to walk his sisters down the aisle at their weddings in the event of his death.
“The drunker I got, the littler that Grand Canyon looked”, he told the Missoulian.
Strapped into a rocket dubbed “Evel Spirit”, Braun made the launch just before 4 p.m. local time and reached 400 miles per hour before the parachute deployed.
“Before I could even think I was doing the five-count”, Truax said. “We scored and won”, Braun said in a statement after the jump.
It took a mere 4 seconds to complete the 1,400ft jump, with the 54-year-old stuntman reaching heights of around three thousand feet.
Months of testing were carried out on the Evel Spirit, which was designed by Scott Truax whose father built the original X2 Skycycle. Continuing with “I’m simply finishing out his dream”.
Braun says he attempted the jump not to prove he can, but to fulfill the dream of his hero.
But the mystique of Knievel’s failed stunt has lived on, with would-be daredevils showing up every decade or so to propose similar jumps.
Braun appears to have been the first to actually try the stunt since Knievel’s attempt.
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After completing to wonderful jump, the stuntman said he was overjoyed with his team’s efforts after the success flight.
