Hughes claims to have assembled a "steam-powered" aircraft in the garage. At 320 kilometers from Los Angeles, he managed to climb 520 meters. He landed by parachute about 450 meters from the launch site.
The rocket nose split into two parts when it fell. The amateur pilot himself was hardly injured, he only complains of back pain. As Hughes admitted to reporters, he feels satisfied with the perfect.
“I'm tired of talking about how I chickened out and didn't assemble any rocket, I'm tired of all that. I pulled myself together and did it,”he said.
The 61-year-old man works as a limousine driver, but has a passion for science. On YouTube, he posts video messages in which he claims that the Earth is flat. In the future, he intends to create a rocket to confirm the theory.
Hughes intended to carry out his flight back in November 2017. But then he could not get permission from the local authorities.
Promotional video:
In February, it was reported that another flat-earth proponent, a 40-year-old Minnesota resident, was injured after attempting to take off on a rocket made from a bicycle frame and a car exhaust pipe. Trying to fly, the man jumped with his apparatus from the roof of the house.