Mad "Mike" dies in rocket crash

[xelasnave]

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!

Pilot may by a poor choice for you and I understand given it may reflect upon your past profession. However the choice of terminology is perhaps irrelevant as his undertaking was unique. We need not judge or compare given we have nothing to which compare. He would I expect hold the title of rocketeer way above pilot just as you look down on him I suspect that hat he would look down on you. Neither position is valid in my view.
My vision of the man is simply that he found something that gave him a presence that fitted his desire to ride a rocket..something to brag about as we all do after a few wines....and he was able to engage fools who wanted to prove the unprovable and pay him to finance his desire to ride his rocket...I think the thing to take away from all of it is he did what he wanted to do and got fools to pay his bills.
In a way I admire the man.
Alex

Originally Posted by julianh72

Indeed - my personal motto:

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

Cheers!

I lived that way for 30 years and you know it did not do me much good.
Our desire to attach meaning or purpose leaves us far from the truth in my view.
I now live such that no one noticed if I am in the room or not...and that works...no pressure to perform ..no pressure to be noticed..no pressure to jump in and fix a thing...and finally you realise your inflated view of your importance was known only to you.
Alwx

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by xelasnave

.......he wanted to do and got fools to pay his bills.

In a way I admire the man.
Alex

I'm calling this spade a shovel.

Rockets do not have lift.

The earth is not flat.

While fools and their money are easily parted, his dogma an ignorance caused his untimely death.

This fellow was no von Braun, Wright, Yeager, Armstrong or Young.

I see nothing here to admire, or path to follow.

It was a totally predictable.....and totally senseless loss.

[xelasnave]

Why did his chute malfunction? Could it be that those who seek to hide the truth that the world is flat tampered with things? I wonder what our three flat Earthers in the video would say... The man did his thing, got fools to back him and paid the price of something going wrong.
No need to compare him to other rocket folk or judge him him in any way ... He is gone.
The funny thing is these flat Earth folk exist and their reasoning is odd. They find their authority in writings from the past and place those above NASA.
Alex

[Kirthgersen]

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

I'm calling this spade a shovel.

Rockets do not have lift.

The earth is not flat.

While fools and their money are easily parted, his dogma an ignorance caused his untimely death.

This fellow was no von Braun, Wright, Yeager, Armstrong or Young.

I see nothing here to admire, or path to follow.

It was a totally predictable.....and totally senseless loss.

Ignorant point of view. A modicum of research which you are exceptional at when it suits you Peter, will reveal his own words that he was a daredevil not a flat earther. Flat earthing raised funds. He never claimed to be a pilot or anything more than a risk taker.

Die by the sword.

If he'd been even a mediocre astrophotographer you'd have RIP'ed him.

Foolish yes. Worthy of your ridicule...?

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by Kirthgersen

Ignorant point of view. A modicum of research which you are exceptional at when it suits you Peter, will reveal his own words that he was a daredevil not a flat earther. Flat earthing raised funds. He never claimed to be a pilot or anything more than a risk taker.

Die by the sword.

If he'd been even a mediocre astrophotographer you'd have RIP'ed him.

Foolish yes. Worthy of your ridicule...?

I have no feelings (or admiration as stated by Alex) about the man one way or another.

But he predictably paid with his life, for this folly.

I'd be asking those close to him "why did you let it go this far?"

Feelings and Political Correctness have no place in aviation/rocketry operations. Knowledge, training, skill and lessons from others who have gone before you, where things have not gone so well, are paramount.

I retired with 20,000+ flight hours and saved 5 dozen lives (including my own) from being needlessly snuffed out due some appalling operational stuff-ups (not of my making).

Being a "dare-devil" does not cut it.

Hence all I can say about your faux indignation is: are you seriously defending some deluded person who strapped his ass to home-made, steam powered, rocket
with the expressed reason of proving (or not) that the earth was flat?

There is no soothing way to put it.

Your don't get a "participation award" .

It's just plain dumb and you'll die if you try it.

[Ukastronomer (Jeremy)]

I feel "Mad Mike" is an insult.

You (I don't mean anyone just in general) may not like someone, you may even disagree with them or what they believe but they have a right to believe, we all have rights and feelings.

I would have liked to see him come back safe

[StuTodd]

Jeremy,

This particular idiot chose to die in a manner that suited him, with gravity playing its part of course. Feel as sorry for him as for Nicholas Copernicus, who had to wait until his death bed to publish a work we now take for granted.

[N1 (Mirko)]

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

Feelings and Political Correctness have no place in aviation/rocketry operations.

If only, Peter.

Last time I checked, rockets as we know them today were developed in order to kill, destroy and morally weaken the British. Very much driven by feelings, would you not agree? Probably the worst emotion of them all. Von Braun collaborated with the most despicable regime this planet has seen to realise his dream. And later development aimed to beat the Russians/Yanks (take your pick) to Space and the Moon, and again to kill and destroy. Science came second. All of it was so politically correct, it was actually politically sanctioned. I'm grateful for every rocket flight that has a peaceful purpose, because such flights are vastly outnumbered by those that don't.

[Sunfish (Ray)]

I think rockets were developed originally by a bunch of amateurs just for fun and science well before the Reich took over and corralled everyone into Peenemunde. Interesting that many people employ the cloak of of science to pursue a kind of anti science based on narrow belief.

There are very many things developed by amateurs and academics who later became professional in their own field after monetising by one or other corporation or Government. Personal computing comes to mind. These are just tools and toys first.

[leee (Thomas)]

Julianh72 -- Not an Engineer ? Engineer is defined as : An Engineer is a person who uses scientific knowledge to design, construct, and maintain engines and machines or structures such as roads, railways, and bridges
Mad Mike - Qualifies as an Engineer. Maybe even a Mad Scientist / Mad Engineer. Certainly as -- Mad Mike.

[xelasnave]

I think the Chinese were first with rockets and no doubt they started out as "fireworks" and progressed to tools of war.
Using steam was rather clever.
Alex

[Sunfish (Ray)]

I suppose I mean rocket in the sense that a jet propelled projectile is controlled in flight. Not so much fireworks, but can produce plenty of fireworks.

The ultimate in steam punk. Iron Sky.

I don’t care where they come down says Werner von Braun.

[Kirthgersen]

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

Hence all I can say about your faux indignation is:.

It wasn’t really faux indignation...more tired indignation. It was past my bedtime. But really why do you care why or how he spent his life or what his motives etc were. He’s got the right to spend his life harmlessly to others. Fatally to himself to be sure...but good on him for having a go.

Who really cares why he was allowed to get that far?

And we all learned something from it...parachutes inside the rocket next time.

I haven’t looked up how the steam propulsion system worked yet. Busy atm...intrigued to learn about it tho.

Also want to know about how you saved lives while at quaintarse...are you allowed to talk about it?

[LewisM]

Meh, gravity sux.

What goes up, must come down - preferrably slowly.

[Peter Ward]

Originally Posted by Kirthgersen

.....

Also want to know about how you saved lives while at quaintarse...are you allowed to talk about it?

It was not while I was with QF...suffice to say flight into terrain never ends well.....as Mr Hughes discovered.

While it is a cliche' " There are old pilots, there are bold pilots, but no old and bold ones...." there is much truth to the saying.

[LewisM]

Originally Posted by Peter Ward

It was not while I was with QF...suffice to say flight into terrain never ends well.....as Mr Hughes discovered.

While it is a cliche' " There are old pilots, there are bold pilots, but no old and bold ones...." there is much truth to the saying.

Better still: There are First Officers who should be Captains, and Captains that should be baggage chuckers...

I knew quite a few of the latter...the literal 4 Stripes and you're out type