My guess, with admittedly, little actual information to back it up is
that the canopy opened and Bill and Janice's clothes which were loose in
back of the seats began to fly out of the airplane. As the articles
flew about the cockpit and out of the plane something flew over Bill's
head and covered his eyes... with no vision, Bill was unable to maintain
level flight.

The airplane entered a left low wing turn to the ground. With no
visual references, Bill didn't know what was happening until the
airplane contacted the ground.

With Bill's level of flight experience I know it had to be something
completely unavoidable and impossible to correct.

Why the canopy opened I have no idea... nor any inclination to
speculate... We lost a wonderful individual... someone that was a
person that contributed to life and to the world.

Bill didn't hesitate to state his opinion nor his thoughts on life or
people. He alienated a lot of people because of that but, in my
opinion, he was right about just about everyone he exposed... I could
name several folks that thought they were more than they really were and
Bill exposed them for the frauds they were... Bill could afford to pay
for pretty much anything but he had no use for anyone that expected him
to cover their expenses, too.... If he wanted to, well then that was
ok, but for someone to simply expect Bill would pay for them, too...
well, that wasn't going to happen...

I first heard about Bill's passing a week ago. I was in shock... Bill,
to me, was immortal... I thought I'd be able to call him up on the phone
next year or 10 years from now to simply talk about what he was doing,
what I was doing, and to ask his advice (and ignore it if it didn't
sound that good...). I'm still unwilling to believe Badwater Bill is no
more..

I've read over and over again some of Bill's emails and posts and it's
hard to understand that Bill's gone.. It was like when Tony died.. It
was a couple years before I could remove Tony's email address from my
email address file.

When my Dad died about 20 years ago this was in the handout at the
memorial service... I offer it as a tribute to Badwater Bill Phillips...
a man that made many friends, a few enemies and made a difference to the
world....

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there; I did not die.


John



cavelamb himself wrote:
RST Engineering wrote:

Not if you follow my logic if and when NTSB makes a determination.

Jim


I dunno, Jim.

If I saw that I was going in, I think I'd pull the power...