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BigAl
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« on: August 04, 2012, 07:14:45 PM » |
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No he is not a Mexican. He jumped Stuff. You young guys will not know him. You old guys will not remember him.
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Former BMW Guy
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Posts: 523
Aut viam inveniam aut faciam.
Apple Valley, MN
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« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2012, 07:34:41 PM » |
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How could you not remember or never have heard of Evel Knievel?
He is a legend!
JP
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Motorcycling is not, of itself, inherently dangerous.
It is however, extremely unforgiving of: inattention, ignorance, incompetence or stupidity.
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Grumpy
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« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2012, 09:02:16 PM » |
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I cannot forget him, after he retired, he lived a couple blocks from me, seen him every couple days.
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 Life is like a hot bath. It feels good while you’re in it, but the longer you stay in, the more wrinkled you get. |
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donaldcc
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« Reply #3 on: August 05, 2012, 12:00:52 PM » |
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From Wikipedia, and a couple pics from Snake River Canyon when i rode through there last summer. 2nd pic is the place of failure for Evil.   Snake River Canyon
ABC Sports was unwilling to pay the price Knievel wanted for the Snake River Canyon jump, so he ended up hiring Bob Arum's company, Top Rank Productions, to put the event on closed-circuit television and broadcast to movie theaters. Then WWF Promoters Don E. Branker and Vince McMahon, Sr., were later said to be silent promoters of this event. Arum partnered with Invest West Sports, Shelly Saltman's company, to secure from Invest West Sports two things: 1.) the necessary financing for the jump and 2.) the services of 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 subcontractor and aeronautical engineer Doug Malewicki to build him a rocket-powered cycle that he could use to jump across the Snake River, to be called the X-1 Skycycle. Doug's creation was powered by a steam engine built by former Aerojet engineer Robert Truax. On April 15, 1972 the X-1 was launched to test the feasibility of the launching ramp. The decision was then made to have Truax build the Skycycle X-2 and have it take off and fly more like a rocket than a motorcycle.
The launch at Snake River Canyon
42.59713°N 114.42292°W) was on September 8, 1974, at 3:36 p.m. MDT. The steam that powered the engine was superheated to a temperature of 500 °F (260 °C). Upon take-off, the drogue parachute deployed. The deployed chute caused enough drag that even though the skycycle made it all the way across the canyon to the north rim, the prevailing winds caused it to drift back south, into the canyon. By the time it hit the bottom of the canyon, it landed only a few feet from the water on the same side of the canyon it had been launched from. If he had landed in the water, Knievel would have drowned due to a jumpsuit/harness malfunction which kept him strapped in the vehicle. Knievel survived the jump with only minor injuries. |
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« Last Edit: August 05, 2012, 12:14:05 PM by donaldcc »
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Don
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MarkT
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Posts: 5197
VRCC #437 "Form follows Function"
Colorado Front Range - elevation 2.005 km
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« Reply #4 on: August 05, 2012, 04:34:37 PM » |
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I recall, on Evel's subsequent interview, he wasn't bashful about blaming his support staff for the failure. I said at the time, "What an A-hole". That behavior fit his personality - he was a braggart and just generally a jerk. Saw him slam his own people and others repeatedly. The kind of wonderful guy that would have been fragged in Vietnam, if he'd been a 2nd louie. I did see him in a later interview, after he retired, was a grandfather, mellowed some with age and Robbie carrying on his legacy, being nicer. Or at least it took more bait to get him started with the badmouth. Is he still with us?
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« Last Edit: August 05, 2012, 04:47:59 PM by MarkT »
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Willow
Administrator
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Posts: 16863
Excessive comfort breeds weakness. PttP
Olathe, KS
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« Reply #5 on: August 05, 2012, 05:12:48 PM » |
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Is he still with us? Not since 2007. |
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CajunRider
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« Reply #6 on: August 05, 2012, 06:06:10 PM » |
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2nd pic is the place of failure for Evil.
Blasphemy!!! Evil never failed!! He simply learned how NOT to jump the snake river.  Seriously though... even us young'ins know and remember Evil!! (If 34 is still considered young, that is.) |
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Sent from my Apple IIe
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