French Super Etendard stalls after catapult launch - photos

[greyhoundollie]

It appears he tried to leave his parachute behind when he reached the top end of the launch rail. He wanted to reduce drag.
Evel Knievel was the one who had his hand on the panic button during the launch and did about as good as this guy did.
I am not aware of Evel Knievel's opinion on the shape of the planet earth.

I think this guy tried to use a steam rocket same as Evel Knievel did.

[jdurand]

Super Dave

[jdurand]

It appears he tried to leave his parachute behind when he reached the top end of the launch rail. He wanted to reduce drag.
Evel Knievel was the one who had his hand on the panic button during the launch and did about as good as this guy did.
I am not aware of Evel Knievel's opinion on the shape of the planet earth.

I think this guy tried to use a steam rocket same as Evel Knievel did.

I suspect the exact same problem, hand on release and the setback of launch causes a pull on the lever.

I met Truax once, who built Evel's rocket, and he had some not for quoting comments about that. He also had lots of wonderful home movies (marked ORIGINAL, US GOVERNMENT) of him and others developing liquid fueled rocket engines.

[jimfols]

Good find. Here's the video embedded:

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</video>

One site said the chute control got caught on the boarding ladder.

[greyhoundollie]

One site said the chute control got caught on the boarding ladder.

Maybe the chute decided not to go flying that day. It was climbing down the ladder to watch the launch from ground level.

[Scotsman Hosie]

You know, engineers – and builders of all kind – know things almost never work as expected – the 1st few times out. But flat-earther Mike Hughes – a media attention hound – also performed as the test dummy for his home-built, steampunk rocket. And – like LaVoy Finicum (Shot by FBI – outside Bend, Oregon) – was on a fast track to personally thin the herd.

Someone said "Did he really believe the Earth was flat?" I said "No – he was an attention seeking media hound, who believed the shortest distance between two points – was an angle." But just like Finicum – everyone involved, had to know how it was slotted to end. A regular Bucko Rogers – of the 21st Century.

[mlochala]

Reminds me of Wile E. Coyote... Meep-meep!!

[Jon]

Someone said "Did he really believe the Earth was flat?" I said "No – he was an attention seeking media hound, who believed the shortest distance between two points – was an angle."

His publicist is also claiming that the flat Earth bit was just a shtick. That kinda makes sense. How can you gain the technical knowledge necessary to build a rocket, but still cling to a flat Earth belief?

It’s not clear how strongly he held the conviction, or if he really believed it at all. His publicist, Darren Shuster, said Saturday that the “flat Earth thing … was a PR stunt we dreamed up” to get publicity and attract sponsors for the rockets that the self-taught engineer made in his garage at his home in Apple Valley, Calif.

More: https://www.latimes.com/california/s...of-close-calls

[stillldoinit]

He didnt realize it was still in neutral when he popped the clutch.

[JackSimons]

One less stupid person...