On September 17th, 2016, stuntman Eddie Braun will attempt what Evel Knievel could not achieve – the famous jump of the Snake River Canyon. He’s self-funded the project for the last three years, including building the rocket, securing land on both sides of the canyon, and he’s been making a documentary from the beginning. However he could use $150k to finish up everything and he’s hoping you’ll help him out. Will you answer the call?
As a review – here’s footage from Evel’s failed attempt, during which the parachute deployed early. His steam-powered Skycycle X-2 rocket (the State of Idaho registered it as an airplane, not a bike) made significant progress but the drag of the chute brought the entire rig back to launch side of the canyon by the time it hit the ground:
Fast forward to today and this is what Eddie’s got so far:
The new vehicle is called Evel Spirit and it was built by Scott Truax – son of the builder of the original Skycycle. Apparently they’re using the original blueprints and even some spare parts from ~40 years ago. Part of the story here is that Scott wants to prove that if the parachute hadn’t prematurely blown, his dad’s design would have worked and gone across the river. For example:
“In keeping with exact specifications of Evel’s X2 Skycycle, all of that temperature and pressure is being held in the rocket by the TOP OF A DOG FOOD CAN LID! Evel used it– we’re using it! That’s right, we actually cut off the tops of dog food cans (just like Evel did) and place the lid inside the rocket engine to keep all the pressure at bay until we are ready to release it! We are keeping this “old school” just like Evel Knievel’s rocket! No fancy modifications. Just good old fashioned 1970’s rocketry.”
Eddie needs help to complete engineering/testing of the vehicle, finish the documentary, put on a ticketed event, and stream the launch live. As of today, the project has raised $21,520 of the $150,000 goal. Want to help? Head on over to the Kickstarter and