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MERRITT HERALD FREE
TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2014 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
Daredevil to attempt rocket jump in Merritt By Emily Wessel THE HERALD
newsroom@merrittherald.com
RIDING FOR THEIR LIVES Over 140 cyclists rode into Merritt’s Visitor Centre at the junction of Highways 5 and 97C on Saturday morning for a pit stop on their ride from Kelowna to Delta. The cyclists were part of the Ride2Survive, an annual 400-kilometre, one-day ride that raises money for cancer research. Now in its 10th year, the ride has raised well over $2.5 million for the cause. At their stop, the riders enjoyed macaroni and cheese casseroles prepared by local Rotarians. Emily Wessel/Herald
On Aug. 23, Mad Mike Hughes will attempt to put Merritt on the map. The California-based daredevil plans to do that by performing a 2,000-foot, world-record-setting jump in his rocket at Sturgis Canada. “The whole world will know about Merritt, B.C.,” Hughes said over the phone from California, where he works as a private limo driver. He said he’s in negotiations with a TV station to film the jump and air it on the 40th anniversary of Evel Knievel’s famous Snake River Canyon jump in September. Hughes has the distinction of already being the world record holder for the longest distance rocket jump, which he gained by breaking the Snake River Canyon jump with a halfmile journey over the Colorado River in 2010. This time, he’ll do something Knievel never did: launch himself in the rocket again. “Personally, after I did it the first time, I know why Evel Knievel didn’t do it
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twice. It scared the pee out of him,” Hughes said. Hughes built the steampowered rocket himself using knowledge of aerodynamics he gained by working as a NASCAR fabricator and taught himself the rest. “I started with nothing. I built the whole thing, the ramp, the rocket, designed it, engineered it, tested it, built the heating systems... “I taught myself,” he said. The rocket is powered by superheated steam, which is contained in a 77-gallon stainless steel tank from a 1950s airplane, in which it was used to hold oxygen for the pilots, Hughes said. The volume of water he uses to create the recordbreaking thrust is a trade secret, he said. “Basically, when you put water under pressure, it will not boil. It just keeps building pressure,” he said. “When you unleash this thing, it is like unleashing the devil. There is no way to stop it.” The rocket is only on the ramp for half of a second, and the water only steams for four seconds.
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