9-8-1974

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                                                9-8-1974

           Evil Knievel attempts jump of Snake River Canyon

Robert Craig "Evil" Knievel was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Over his career, he attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps, and, in 1974, a canyon jump across Snake River Canyon (which failed) in the Skycycle X-2, a steam-powered rocket. During his career he suffered more than 433 bone fractures,^[2] earning an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records as the survivor of "most bones broken in a lifetime".^[3] Knievel was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.^[3] Knievel died of pulmonary disease in Clearwater, Florida in 2007, aged 69.

ABC Sports was unwilling to pay the price Knievel wanted for the Snake River Canyon jump, so he hired boxing promoter Bob Arum's company, Top Rank Productions, to put the event on closed-circuit television and broadcast to movie theaters. Investors in the event took a substantial loss, including promoter Don E. Branker, as well as Vince McMahon of the World Wrestling Federation. Arum partnered with Invest West Sports, Shelly Saltman's company, to secure from Invest West Sports two things: first, the necessary financing for the jump, and second, 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 hired subcontractor and aeronautical engineer Doug Malewicki to build him a rocket-powered cycle to jump across the Snake River, and called it the X-1 Skycycle. Malwecki'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.

[tunahead72 2,347]

Wow, that photo just about says it all, doesn't it?