re: #12 bratwurst

This wall to wall coverage is too much.

Ok, it is his business if he is bound and determined to join John Denver…but he could have seriously injured or killed non-celebrity daredevils.

FWIK, Ford wasn’t hotdogging it, he had an in-flight engine failure and was able to at least land it, which is not what happened to Denver:

Post-accident investigation by the NTSB showed that the leading cause of the accident was Denver’s inability to execute safely a switch of fuel tanks in flight. The quantity of fuel had been depleted during [Denver’s recently purchased Rutan Long-EZ] transfer to Monterey and in several brief practice takeoffs and landings performed by Denver at the airport immediately prior to the final flight. His newly purchased experimental Rutan had an unusual fuel selector valve handle configuration. Intended by the plane’s designer to be located between the pilot’s legs, the fuel selector had instead been placed by the plane’s builder behind the left shoulder of the pilot, with the fuel gauge also behind the pilot’s seat and thus not visible to the person at the controls.[35][36] An NTSB interview with the aircraft mechanic servicing Denver’s plane revealed that he and Denver had discussed the inaccessibility of the cockpit fuel selector valve handle and its resistance to being turned.[35][36]

Before the flight, Denver and the mechanic had attempted to extend the reach of the handle, using a pair of Vise-Grip pliers.[35][36] However, this did not solve the problem, as the pilot could still not reach the handle while strapped into his seat.[35][36] NTSB investigators’ post-accident investigation showed that given the positioning of the fuel selector valves, switching the craft’s fuel tanks required a pilot to turn his body 90 degrees to reach the valve. This created a natural tendency to extend one’s right foot against the right rudder pedal to support oneself while turning in the seat, causing the aircraft to yaw (move off course) and pitch up.[35][36]

According to the mechanic, after he had noted to Denver that the fuel sight gauges were visible only to the rear cockpit occupant, Denver asked him about the quantity of fuel shown.[35][36] The mechanic told Denver that he had “less than half in the right tank and less than a quarter in the left tank”.[35][36] The mechanic then provided Denver with an inspection mirror so that he could look over his shoulder at the fuel sight gauges; the mirror was later recovered in the wreckage.[35][36] Denver told the mechanic that he would use the autopilot inflight, if necessary, to hold the airplane level while he turned the fuel selector valve.[35][36] Denver declined an offer to take on additional fuel, telling the mechanic that he would only be flying for about one hour.[35][36]

Ford apparently had a mechanical failure, while Denver was flying a new (to him) aircraft that had its fuel tank selector valves in a location that was unreachable in-flight that deviated from the Rutan specs, with a woefully light fuel load.