Accessing Landlocked BLM / Public land by air with paramotor para-glider ??

[GotDraw?]

Your right. I retract this incorrect statement.

@Woitey
My recollection is that John Denver bought a plane from a guy that was much taller than he was. John was flying it and it ran out of fuel and was diving; unfortunately, the guy that built it had positioned the cutover switch to switch fuel tanks in a place where Denver couldn't reach it w/o unbuckling from his seat harness and it all went very sideways from there. RIP JD

 

[bradyhunt]

@Woitey
My recollection is that John Denver bought a plane from a guy that was much taller than he was. John was flying it and it ran out of fuel and was diving; unfortunately, the guy that built it had positioned the cutover switch to switch fuel tanks in a place where Denver couldn't reach it w/o unbuckling from his seat harness and it all went very sideways from there. RIP JD

Was that communicated on the radio as he was going down or speculation?

 

[gbflyer]

Was that communicated on the radio as he was going down or speculation?

I don’t think the NTSB has gotten one right yet so….

 

[Valkyrie]

Multiple causes of John Denver’s death.

The aircraft builder moved a tank selector valve to a position behind the cockpit. It required trining around in the seat to actuate. The switch was reportedly not moved easily and required a lot of force to manipulate. He took off with low fuel in one tank and one with more gas but not full. He had very little experience in the aircraft.

Pilot error all around. He couldn’t reach the tank valve switch. If he could he wasn’t able to manipulate it. As he tried at low altitude and a failed motor, his airspeed approached stall. He inadvertently kicked the right rudder as he turned around to reach the switch and with the low airspeed, he induced a spin that was unrecoverable at the low altitude he was at and crashed.

Flying is unforgiving. You add another dimension to your realm. You are traveling much faster than you actually perceive because there is usually not very many near reference points to gauge your speed visually, with high speeds comes reaction envelopes that are below human capability. Aircraft are complex and require constant attention which requires focus and a high level of situational awareness. Get behind the aircraft and you’re doomed. The human brain is faulty by nature and without training and proficiency, risk skyrockets.

 

[GotDraw?]

Was that communicated on the radio as he was going down or speculation?

I believe that was what I heard years ago from the forensic crash report.
There was no way for him to reach the reserve fuel cutover switch and it went bad from there.
JL

 

[Jsteel]

This is awesome!