Jesse James: A Car Built To Fly

'Monster Garage' Host Goes For A Test Ride

(CBS)  Last week, Jesse James, the master mechanic and direct descendent of the famous outlaw, told 60 Minutes Wednesday he planned to build a car that could fly.

A few days ago, near Kitty Hawk, N.C., he tried it out. Correspondent Vicki Mabrey reports on what happened.

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Jesse James, who has a popular TV show called "Monster Garage," where he transforms vehicles into something unimaginable, set out to make a flying car for the season finale and take it out on its first test flight.

Last Friday, James set out to do just that, near Kitty Hawk, N.C., where the Wright Brothers made the historic first flight.

With hundreds of fans watching, James planned to pilot a modified sports car with an airplane engine and detachable wings.

"Hero or zero," says James. "At the end of the day, I'm gonna be one or the other."

And with that, James took off for the end of the runway.

At 80 miles an hour, the car lifted off the ground, for a grand total of three seconds. But for James' fans, this master mechanic might as well have flown to the moon.

"Man, I can’t it believe it actually worked," says James.

It may not have been far. The car flew only about 350 feet. But that was three times farther than the Wright Brothers covered on their first flight, just over 100 years ago.

Read Vicki Mabrey's interview with Jesse James last week on 60 Minutes Wednesday.