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Steam rocket designed by self-trained man crashes due to premature parachute deployment. 13

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It is easy to pile on this guy but you can't build a rocket that will lift a man a 1/4 mile without engineering. Whatever his faults he had some engineering talent.

It is best not to get bent out of shape over folks with weird notions. It is actually a survival mechanism of a species that a small percentage are not wired like the rest. A great many advances have come from those who are deviants from the norm and who's cosmology is otherwise embarrassing.
 
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People who believe that the earth is flat may have never been far from home.

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter
 
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I doubt he really believed the earth is flat. I think that was just a way to get some attention and funding. MAN BUILDS ROCKET is ho hum, most don't even follow the majority of the space launches. MAN BUILDS ROCKET TO PROVE EARTH IS FLAT is much more attention grabbing. Building a low altitude rocket never made any sense to "prove" anything.

RIP Mike.

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The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows.
 
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On one hand I find the guy a bit nutty. OTOH I respect his opinion and bravery. Maybe I'm a bit too Mr Rogers'ish, but I try to find the good in people. Even if properly engineered and safety was assured, I would wager there are many on this forum that wouldn't strap themselves into that rocket and take that ride.
 
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From Wikipedia, "Accidental self-sterilization also qualifies; however, the site notes: "Of necessity, the award is usually bestowed posthumously." The candidate is disqualified, though, if "innocent bystanders", who might have contributed positively to the gene pool, are killed in the process. The logical problem presented by award winners who may have already reproduced is not addressed in the selection process due to the difficulty of ascertaining if a person has or does not have children; the Darwin Award rules state that the presence of offspring does not disqualify a nominee"

I believe Mike is fully entitled to enjoy his award.
 
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Dan - Owner
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The Help for this program was created in Windows Help format, which depends on a feature that isn't included in this version of Windows.
 
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They believe a flat Earth, but that doesn't mean they believe in a flat solar system.

Nevertheless, they can't be bothered with actual math, since it would clearly show that Eratosthenes would have gotten a much different answer. Given that it's a simple experiment to do; they could all agree to repeat Eratosthenes' experiment in all their global locations and then solve for the Sun's position.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list
 
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Mr. Hughes may have been eccentric and a possible publicity hound but I will give him full respect for putting his money where his mouth is/was. Regardless of his self-taught engineering and home-brew construction, he trusted his own work and calculations to strap into his self-made rocket. Those who build their own flying/soaring/diving machines - airplane, rocket or submarine - trust their lives to what they have done, regardless of the correctness or prudence of the calculation or means, are taking the most dear step in trusting their work and knowledge. I have heard and seen some chuckling comments about Mad Mike choosing a steam-powered rocket design - they are missing the validity of a steam rocket and the complexity in its simplicity. Many rocket engineers such as Robert Truax of Truax Eng., Aerojet, US Navy fame studied, engineered and built steam rockets - and his team had a bad calculation or two on Evel Knievel's Skycycle - improper drag calcs caused the parachute to deploy prematurely. Originally, that failure was thought to have been Evel bailing out but Truax later admitted to have missed a detail or two. Of course, Mad Mike's low-budget launch arrangement and general P.T. Barnum promotion tended to obscure the details of what he did. I have to wonder if he got knocked unconscious or physically entangled by the whipsaw motion of his craft due to the parachute deployment on launch. Reports I have read indicate there were additional parachutes on the rocket that could have been deployed to prevent the total nose-dive crash that occurred. Mad Mike Hughes had the audacity to jump limousines, daredevil stunts and get into his self-built rockets - I won't be laughing or bashing - I'll only wonder what kept him from deploying his other chutes. Maybe that is the engineering failure that should be considered/discussed.
 
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According to one report, his entire parachute apparatus got damaged by the access ladder he and his team added to make it easier to get into the cockpit. This was supposedly the reason one of his parachutes just kind of blew out shortly after launch.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert! faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list
 
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which begs the question, why was the ladder not removed after he was inside the cockpit? Was it a permanent part of the structure or did someone simply forget to remove it?

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without
 
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what about the rocket being involved in a parking lot accident just before arriving on launch site?

the increased thrust for the desired increase in trajectory and the jarring due to hitting the ladder could have knocked him unconcous (IF the other chutes were still available).

In past launches there was in cabin video, I suspect that camera didn't survive
 
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