A replica of Evel Knievel’s Skycycle X-2 was built by Creative Arts for their TV series titled “Museum Men.” The TV show is based on the “behind the scenes goings on” of a company that builds museum exhibits. Creative Arts Unlimited produce historically precise displays for museums, hospitals, libraries, businesses and towns. The installation of the Skycycle X-2 replica was filmed at the Tennessee Museum of Aviation.
Museum Men
Season 1, Episode 6
Aired January 3, 2015
The launch took place at the south rim of the Snake River Canyon, west of Shoshone Falls, on September 8, 1974, at 3:36 p.m. MDT. The steam that powered the engine was superheated to a temperature of 500 °F (260 °C). The drogue parachute prematurely deployed as the Skycycle left the launching rail and induced significant drag. Even though the craft made it all the way across the canyon to the north rim, the prevailing northwest winds caused it to drift back into the canyon. By the time it hit the bottom of the canyon, it landed only a few feet from the water on the same side of the canyon from which it had been launched. If he had landed in the water, Knievel said that he would have drowned, due to a harness malfunction which kept him strapped in the vehicle. As it was, he survived the failed jump with only minor physical injuries.
Watch Evel Knievel’s Snake River Canyon on YouTube