Homebuilding Killed John Denver

I just read in the newspaper that John Denver was killed in a
homebuilt airplane? That got me thinking to look for a NG that might
be dedicated to this activity, and I found this one.

This is all new to me, quite honestly, and disturbing. People are
building airplanes at home and then flying them? This is endangering
people on the ground and in the air flying in real airplanes.

I guess the good thing from Mr. Denvers death is that the public at
large knows about this practice, and maybe can do something about it
to make our skyways a safer place.


My first instinct was to tear into you with all sorts of personal insults
against you intelligence, your heritage, and so on. My second thought was to
assume that you were yet another sick troll trying to start a flame war.
Instead, for the moment, I will make the assumption that you are simply a very
uninformed individual who needs to be educated on some facts.

Yes, John Denver was killed in a homebuilt aircraft but your subject title
"Homebuilding Killed John Denver" shows that you are pretty ignorant of the
facts. The reality of the event is that STUPIDITY killed John Denver, not the
"homebuilt airplane". John Denver has just purchased the aircraft, had not
flown many hours in the aircraft and was unfamilar with the fuel system, the
range of the aircraft and flying the aircraft. He had flown the aircraft for
several hours without refueling and took-off without filling the fuel tanks.
He was flying too low over an area that he should not have been flying over to
begin with. He then exhausted the fuel in one tank and caused the plane to
dive into the water while trying to switch tanks. There were several things
that John Denver could have done differently, any one of which would have
totally changed the outcome.

First, the fuel selector valve did not have a proper control handle and a pair
of vicegrips were being used to turn the valve. This should have been repaired
before any flights and it was John's responsibility to see to that. It has
also been indicated that the placement of the valve was a contributing factor
and to some degree it was since it required the pilot to take his concentration
from flying the plane to work the valvel. The plane hand been flown for many
hours without incident with it placed there.

Second, the placement of the fuel valve required a movement by the pilot that
could easily have resulted in the pilot pushing on one of the rudder controls
in the process. This could have been the contributing factor in the reported
dive into the water. Even if this was the case, had John Denver not been
flying so low, he could have easily recoverd from the dive without problems.
Had he replaced the vicegrips with a normal control handle it would not have
required as much movement or attention from flying.

Next, John was in such a hurry to get into and fly his plane that he failed the
first rule of flying, preflight your aircraft and make sure you have a plane
that is ready to fly. That means that YOU have enough fuel for the flight
before you takeoff. It had NOTHING to do with being a homebuilt aircraft that
he failed to fill his fuel tanks before flying.

There are several additional problems with John's flight but that should give
you some idea that homebuilding has nothing to do with John Denver's death. It
was the same type of stupid mistakes that could kill you on the highway today.


Yes, people are building airplanes at home and flying them. These are NOT some
Rule-Goldberg type aircraft that are endangering people on the ground or other
"real" aircraft. They are very "REAL" aircraft that in many cases represent
the best that aviation has to offer. They do not present any greater danger
than the manufactured production "real" aircraft. The quality of their
construction often far exceeds that of production aircraft.

Nothing good came from Mr. Denver's death, especially if the ignorance of
people like you is used to "do something about it". Do yourself and everyone
else a favor, either become educated to the facts or mind your own business and
take on some cause that really needs your attention like elimination of dog
owners who let their dogs defficate in my front yard.


Bob Reed
www.kisbuild.r-a-reed-assoc.com (KIS Builders Site)
KIS Cruiser in progress...Slow but steady progress....

"Ladies and Gentlemen, take my advice,
pull down your pants and Slide on the Ice!"
(M.A.S.H. Sidney Freedman)