Mad "Mike" dies in rocket crash

[billdan (Bill)]

Mike Hughes was notorious for his flat earth theory and wanted to build a rocket to prove his point.
Unfortunately his home made, steam powered rocket failed just after launch and crashed, killing Mike (RIP).

He barely survived from another rocket crash in Mar 2018, but not this time.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-...ornia/11993112

[multiweb (Marc)]

He must have hit the ceiling. RIP

[Exfso (Peter)]

Apparently the parachute that was supposed to deploy to let him come back down to earth left the launch vehicle as it was clearing the launch gantry so he was doomed to free fall to his flat earth.

[glend (Glen)]

Some of the online video has now been edited to make it less confronting for viewers. In the one I saw, you could clearly hear the screams from the crowd as they realised they were watching him die. The chute ripped away from the rocket at launch and can be seen billowing behind after it left the gantry. In photyos of the rocket prior to launch it appears the chute was mounted externally on the rocket body packed into a tube. Speculation is that the retention system failed under the thrust of launch allowing it to deploy, and ripping away under the forces.
After the steam powered rocket ran out of thrust it began a vertical plunge into the desert floor. While we will never know now, it is likely that Mad Mike was unconscious at that point , having blacked out the to the launch g forces, which were pretty extreme as you can see.
Hard to see how a flat earther can see validation in an attempt to rocket to 4500 feet, where curvature would be hard to spot. For the cost of the rocket build he could have taken a high altitude joy flight. Mad Mike should definitely be a contender for the Darwin Award 2020.

[OICURMT]

What's even more ridiculous is that he was a pilot and could have just flown himself to 20,000 ft in a Cessna.


If he would have just learned from Evel Knievel, this could have been avoided... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skycycle_X-2

[Ukastronomer (Jeremy)]

I am not going to ridicule him, he may have been a person people want to but he was a clever engineer, more than I will ever be

[leee (Thomas)]

No question Mike was Intelligent. I believe the "Flat Earth" bit, was just another way of drawing attention to himself.
Just thinking - ( the 'landing' would have been so much smother on a curved surface, rather than on a flat one.)

[julianh72 (Julian)]

Originally Posted by Ukastronomer

he was a clever engineer, more than I will ever be

He was a limousine driver; he might have been clever, and he might have been a good mechanic / inventor, but he was no engineer.

"Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limitations imposed by practicality, regulation, safety and cost."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineer

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by leee

( the 'landing' would have been so much smother on a curved surface, rather than on a flat one.)

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by julianh72

He was a limousine driver;

That's giving a bad name to all the limo drivers out there.

[julianh72 (Julian)]

Originally Posted by multiweb

That's giving a bad name to all the limo drivers out there.

No, seriously - he really was a limousine driver.

And he was also a limousine jumper - in 2002, he set a Guinness world record with a 103-foot (31 m) jump in a Lincoln Town Car stretch limousine. (Apparently without the benefit of any actual "engineering" input.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Hughes_(daredevil)
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com...ump-limousine/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pc-2ABQzzE

[JA]

Originally Posted by leee

No question Mike was Intelligent. I believe the "Flat Earth" bit, was just another way of drawing attention to himself.
...

100% Leee

Best
JA

[sharkbite]

Originally Posted by OICURMT

What's even more ridiculous is that he was a pilot and could have just flown himself to 20,000 ft in a Cessna.

Sure - but i believe this attempt was a mere stepping stone
in his plan to go much higher.

there are any number of ways he could get high enough to see
the curvature - including a remote camera strapped to
a hobby rocket, which uni students do all the time.

If he was after his 15 minutes of fame - he got it...

[GrahamL]

Pretty good model rocket it sure did what it was supposed to,not very good recovery option having no back up .


He did pass on doing what he loved .

[xelasnave]

Very sad. However he went doing what he was into and really what more could you want?

My mate who founded Australasian Dirt Bike magazine died in an unfortunate accident in a desert race years ago and somehow I think he won dieing whilst doing his favorites thing.

I bet MM just got off on the whole rocket deal and took money from the gullible to finance his desire to ride a rocket..I doubt he thought the Earth was flat. These flat earthers are such an unfortunate crew basing their beliefs upon vague references in ancient writings that clearly were hopelessly uninformed...so nice to see someone other than faith healers capitalise on their stupidity...So happily he used their belief to finance his joy.
Here is a great video where scientists give flat Earthers a run and certainly give them far more respect than most sensible folk could ever extend.https://youtu.be/Q7yvvq-9ytElex

[julianh72 (Julian)]

Originally Posted by xelasnave

I think he won dieing whilst doing his favorites thing.

I aim to die while finishing a bottle of 25-year old Islay Malt whisky, after a fantastic 7-course meal in a 3-Michelin-star restaurant, each course being paired with a great wine.



I don't expect my passing to make the evening news, or to be live-streamed on YouTube.

[Peter Ward]

First up, "Mad" Mike Hughes was no pilot.

The only person to call him a "pilot" was San Bernardino County sheriff’s department when they described the deceased occupant of the steam powered rocket...and I'd take issue with that description... as there was no "piloting" going on, he was a passenger on a ballistic projectile.

Anyone with even a modicum of flight training would have been painfully aware of the difficulties of sustained flight without wings.

The New York Times referred to him as " a daredevil, limousine stunt driver and self-taught astronaut".

The name Wile E. Coyote also comes to mind.

I suspect Mr Hughes will however be in the running for the 2020 Darwin Award, with distinction!

[multiweb (Marc)]

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

First up, "Mad" Mike Hughes was no pilot.

The only person to call him a "pilot" was San Bernardino County sheriff’s department when they described the deceased occupant of the steam powered rocket...and I'd take issue with that description... as there was no "piloting" going on, he was a passenger on a ballistic projectile.

Anyone with even a modicum of flight training would have been painfully aware of the difficulties of sustained flight without wings.

The New York Times referred to him as " a daredevil, limousine stunt driver and self-taught astronaut".

The name Wile E. Coyote also comes to mind.

I suspect Mr Hughes will however be in the running for the 2020 Darwin Award, with distinction!

Don't hold back.

[xelasnave]

Originally Posted by julianh72

I aim to die while finishing a bottle of 25-year old Islay Malt whisky, after a fantastic 7-course meal in a 3-Michelin-star restaurant, each course being paired with a great wine.



I don't expect my passing to make the evening news, or to be live-streamed on YouTube.

Not knowing when means that each evening you must at least set the scene. That can't be all bad.
Alex

[julianh72 (Julian)]

Originally Posted by xelasnave

Not knowing when means that each evening you must at least set the scene.

Indeed - my personal motto:

"Live every day as if it's your last."

Cheers!