Oh yes, the one and only Evel Knievel! Legend has it, one night at local bar there was a picture of the Grand Canyon on the wall, also there was Robert Craig Knievel. While pounding some hard drinks and having fun, someone said to Evel, "I bet you can't jump that". Knievel responded "oh yea, sure I could, If I had a rocket bike!" Heres a picture of the prototype rocket-bike.
Knievel kept up his pursuit of getting the United States Government to allow him to jump the Grand Canyon. To push his case, he hired famed San Francisco defense attorney Melvin Belli to fight the legal battle to obtain government permission. ABC's Wide World of Sports started showing Knievel's jumps on television with regularity. His popularity, especially with young boys, was ever increasing. He became a hero to a generation of young boys, many of whom were injured trying to imitate his stunts. A.J. Foyt made him part of his pit crew for the Indianapolis 500 in 1970. His huge fame caused him to start traveling with a bodyguard, Boots Curtis, a long time Knievel friend.
By 1971, Knievel realized that the United States government would never allow him to jump the Grand Canyon. To keep his fans interested, Knievel considered several other stunts that might match the publicity that would have been generated by jumping the canyon. Ideas included: jumping across the Mississippi River, jumping from one skyscraper to another in New York City and jumping over 13 cars inside the Houston Astrodome. While flying back to Butte from a performance tour, Knievel looked out the window and saw the Snake River Canyon. After finding a location near Twin Falls, Idaho, that was both wide enough, deep enough and on private property, Knievel leased 300 acres (1.2 km²) for $35,000 to stage his jump. He set the date for Labor Day, 1972. Heres how it was supposed to go.
Because of some wrecks, broken bones, and funding, the jump date was moved back. ABC Sports was unwilling to pay the price Knievel wanted for the canyon jump, so he ended up hiring Bob Arum's company, Top Rank Productions, to put the event on pay-per-view cable. Arum partnered with Invest West Sports, Sheldon Saltman company,(whom evel later went after with a baseball bat) in order to secure from Invest West Sports two things: 1.) the necessary financing for the jump and 2.) the services of Sheldon Saltman, long recognized as one of America's premier public relations and promotion men, to do publicity so that Knievel could concentrate on his jumps. Knievel then hired former NASA engineer Robert Truax to design and build the X-2 Skycycle. During two test jumps, the first on April,15 1972, and the second on June 24, 1973, the rocket failed to make it all the way across the canyon. Knievel said that there would be no more tests and that he would go ahead with the scheduled jump on September 8, 1974!
The launch at the Snake River Canyon was at 3:36 p.m. local time. The steam that powered the engine had to get up to a temperature of 700 °F (370 °C). upon takeoff.
Heres some clips of the event!
The drogue parachute accidentally deployed when the three 1/4 inch bolts holding the cover for the chute sheared off with the force of the blast. The deployed chute caused enough drag that even though the skycycle made it more than halfway across the canyon the wind began to cause it to drift back as the Skycycle turned on its side and started to descend into the canyon. By the time it hit the bottom of the canyon, the wind had pushed it across the river enough so that it landed hung up in the trees that kept him barely out of the water, just a couple feet more and Knievel would have drowned. He was tied into the Rocket and couldn't get loose.
Heres the aftermath back on land.
If you would like Info on the Snake River Video, You can email
retro3@comcast.net
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