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Stuntman successfully completes Evel Knievel canyon jump in US

Evel Knievel attempted the jump on September 8, 1974 but failed to jump across the canyon because his parachute deployed too soon.

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Mr Traux followed his father’s blueprints exactly, apart from an updated parachute system. I ran it into the end zone.

Before the jump, Braun spoke of his confidence that he would make it the full away across the canyon.

Stuntman Eddie Braun took off at 3:54pm from a property a few kilometres up the river from the original spot in the Magic Valley region of Idaho.

Braun had trouble finding corporate sponsors for the stunt, and said he spent about 1.5 million dollars (£1.15 million) of his own money on the jump.

“What better way to pay homage to the guy who inspired me and led me to become everything that I am professionally?”

When asked before the stunt why he was doing it, Braun told GQ Magazine, “I figure this: I can tolerate just about anything for a couple of minutes”. Knievel promised a weeklong festival complete with celebrities, a golf tournament and fun.

The mystique of Knievel’s failed stunt has lived on, with would-be daredevils showing up every decade or so to propose similar jumps.

Stuntman Eddie Braun did what his boyhood idol, Evel Knievel, could not do, clearing the Snake River Canyon in Idaho on Friday.

Several members of Knievel’s family were on hand, including Knievel’s son, Robbie Knievel, and Evel Knievel’s ex-wife, Krystal Kennedy-Knievel.

In this Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016 photo, rocket designer Scott Truax, left, talks with professional stuntman Eddie Braun at the team’s shop in Twin Falls, Idaho.

Statesman media partner KIVI 6 On Your Side reported that 200 to 300 onlookers showed up after word got out that Braun would be attempting the jump on Friday.

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Unlike Knievel, who was lowered into his rocket ship riding inside a metal cage swung into place by a crane, Braun walked up several steps on the platform and slipped into the Evel Spirit.

Stuntman Eddie Braun flies the'Evel Spirit rocket on Friday Sept. 16 2016 over the Snake River Canyon at Twin Falls Idaho