Boise, Idaho, news station KBOI 2 said Braun spent about $1.6 million preparing for the stunt.
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Like his boyhood idol, Braun used a steep ramp to propel a custom made rocket dubbed “Evel Spirit” to launch himself across Snake River Canyon in Idaho.
Reportedly, Knievel came up with the idea to attempt the jump while drinking at Moose’s Saloon in Kalispell in 1966.
Before the jump, Braun spoke of his confidence that he would make it the full away across the canyon. He worked on the stunt for three years, even enlisting the son of the man who built Knievel’s rocket cycle to design one of his own.
“I don’t know if he actually went to the other side of the canyon”, Braun told Boise’s KIVI-TV this week, “To see what the view is like, I wonder if he ever thought about that”. Knievel died in 2007 at age 69.
Stuntman Eddie Braun gets into the cockpit of the Evel Spirit, a steam powered rocket, surrounded by his team.
Onlookers watched as Braun managed to complete the stunt, remain alive and use the successful attempt as part of his argument that Knievel would have likely have gotten a much better result if his parachute opened at the correct time.
Scott Truax, the designer of the rocket, told the Idaho Statesman that after Braun got the OK to launch he didn’t hesitate.
He looked at the stunt as a way to pay homage to Knievel, who inspired him to become a stuntman.
Several members of Knievel’s family were on hand, including Knievel’s son, Robbie Knievel, and Evel Knievel’s ex-wife, Krystal Kennedy-Knievel.
After completing to incredible jump, the stuntman said he was overjoyed with his team’s efforts after the success flight.
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“I was so mad at that engineer. How many people get to finish the dream of their hero?”
