Rocket car jump -Ken Carter Mad Canadian Kenny Powers stunt
Discussion
a guy tries to jump 1 mile of water in a rocket powered car. Quite the maddest thing I have ever seen in my whole life...
rocket car
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpBXANgREWQ
The Devil at Your Heels
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgIhGTpKTwM
https://www.facebook.com/themadcanadian?ref=stream
Ken Carter -what a character! Here are my thoughts, on him, for what it's worth...
Very brave, but the lust for fame went to his head and caused him to take leave of his senses. He showed stunning tenacity and entrepreneurial skills/resolution in his 1 mile jump attempt over the years. However, the whole scheme was utterly barking and any sane analysis/sense of self preservation could see that it was only going to end in tears. I also blame the backers -what on earth were they thinking of putting the money up so that a madman could fulfill his dream which would probably end in serious injury or death in reality? It almost seems like they were wanting to get a gory disaster on film -because this was certainly all that was likely to result.
It was 100% inevitable that Ken was going to keep on going with his 'bigger/higher/longer' jumps until he eventually ran out of luck. He went beyond 'jumping' cars into trying to make them 'aircraft'. Unfortunately his low level of education (while not a problem for his 'showman' persona) was in no way adequate for working out the physics of what he was trying to do. On his last jump he decided that he wanted more rocket fuel on the car. Surely this should have been worked out by an engineer/physicist i.e. someone who knew what they were talking about (rather than the redneck showman). Equally, I never, ever saw any indication of an aerodynamicist involved with the 1-mile jump. If there had have been they would have said:
a) that if the wings are going to give lift then they will make the car too light/unstable on its wheels (as Slammin' Sammy Miller found when he tested the car)
b) that no aircraft will fly without tail stability. Hence why rockets and aircraft always have a tailplane at the rear - but Ken's car only had central wings. Hence why it was unstable in the air and it all ended in disaster.
I'd also like to hear from someone involved at the time with the above escapade as to why only 1 of the 2 parachutes opened upon descent.
Evel Knievel was less than impressed with the scheme and that should have been "the gipsy's warning" to all involved to knock it off.
So what is Ken Carter's legacy? To me, he was a brave lunatic, but he proved that sheer determination alone still can't overcome the laws of physics, and that one risk too far is all it takes to have a horrible and premature end.
rocket car
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpBXANgREWQ
The Devil at Your Heels
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgIhGTpKTwM
https://www.facebook.com/themadcanadian?ref=stream
Ken Carter -what a character! Here are my thoughts, on him, for what it's worth...
Very brave, but the lust for fame went to his head and caused him to take leave of his senses. He showed stunning tenacity and entrepreneurial skills/resolution in his 1 mile jump attempt over the years. However, the whole scheme was utterly barking and any sane analysis/sense of self preservation could see that it was only going to end in tears. I also blame the backers -what on earth were they thinking of putting the money up so that a madman could fulfill his dream which would probably end in serious injury or death in reality? It almost seems like they were wanting to get a gory disaster on film -because this was certainly all that was likely to result.
It was 100% inevitable that Ken was going to keep on going with his 'bigger/higher/longer' jumps until he eventually ran out of luck. He went beyond 'jumping' cars into trying to make them 'aircraft'. Unfortunately his low level of education (while not a problem for his 'showman' persona) was in no way adequate for working out the physics of what he was trying to do. On his last jump he decided that he wanted more rocket fuel on the car. Surely this should have been worked out by an engineer/physicist i.e. someone who knew what they were talking about (rather than the redneck showman). Equally, I never, ever saw any indication of an aerodynamicist involved with the 1-mile jump. If there had have been they would have said:
a) that if the wings are going to give lift then they will make the car too light/unstable on its wheels (as Slammin' Sammy Miller found when he tested the car)
b) that no aircraft will fly without tail stability. Hence why rockets and aircraft always have a tailplane at the rear - but Ken's car only had central wings. Hence why it was unstable in the air and it all ended in disaster.
I'd also like to hear from someone involved at the time with the above escapade as to why only 1 of the 2 parachutes opened upon descent.
Evel Knievel was less than impressed with the scheme and that should have been "the gipsy's warning" to all involved to knock it off.
So what is Ken Carter's legacy? To me, he was a brave lunatic, but he proved that sheer determination alone still can't overcome the laws of physics, and that one risk too far is all it takes to have a horrible and premature end.
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