He’s not yet being compared to Elon Musk and his SpaceX rocket achievements, but a California limo driver deserves an “E” for effort, and perhaps a “W” for whimsy.

Mike Hughes is a self-taught rocket scientist who believes that the earth is flat, and likes to go by the name “Mad Mike.”

He recently launched his own homemade rocket ship in the Mojave Desert and rode it over 570 meters into the air.

He says it gave him a sore back, but also inspiration for another one-of-a-kind project.

Hughes says he’d like to build a rocket that would be lifted skyward by a giant gas-filled balloon. Once it reaches about 110 kilometres, the rocket would separate from the balloon and ignite.

He calls it a “Rockoon,”