Steve and Paul,

I have been on this list for a few years now and still have not ever heard
what the cause of Everett' s crash was.
I've been reluctant to ask due to the sensitive nature, but was it a
machanical failure of some kind in one of the prototypes?

Ron Freier

Ron: the crash happened in October of 1997, down by the river, about a mile
south of our shop and hangar.  Investigation, witness reports and other
indicate it resulted from aerobatics close to the ground with possible pilot
incapacitation and the engine was not a factor.

The following was relayed to me by multiple sources.  Witnesses in the
another aircraft were orbiting a riverboat stuck on a gravel bar when
Everett went by at high speed at approx 500 agl; pulled up slightly in his
normal manner for entering an aileron roll and when transitioning through
the inverted position, dished out in an inadvertent split-s, going straight
into the ground in a split second.  This is consistent with back pressure
being maintained as the aircraft transitions the inverted position.  This is
consistent with a classic dish out of a roll into a split-s...failure to
provide forward stick to unload the aircraft when transitioning the inverted
pulls the nose down. Based on witness reports, if Everett had his head
turned to the side to maintain visual contact with the other aircraft during
the fly-by and roll, it could have been a contributing factor.

According to witnesses, it happened in a blink.  The trees, then the soft
ground, pulled the wings back against the sides of the fuselage and and the
velocity drove it all into the ground as if it were a spear.  There was a
large instantaneous vapor cloud from the rupture pressure of the wing tanks
but no explosion or fire because anything hot was already deep in the
ground.  The propeller made spiral marks on the tree adjacent to the hole.
The engine appeared not to be a factor in the crash, other than the high
speeds involved.

A few days following the crash, Dick VanGrunsven came down and we examined
the wreckage.  A few days following that, we disassembled every nut and bolt
and carefully examined every part including those not retrieved by
inspectors deep from the hole.  All impact damage.

Everett would occasionally remind me to keep high when doing maneuvers. His
instructor and a good friend were aerobatic pilots killed in separate Pitts
airshow crashes years before and we had the tail section from one in the
storage shed.  Everett's frequent admonition to me was that doing aerobatics
close to the ground would get you killed.   I keep key parts from the crash
for reference...and also as a reminder before aerobatics practice.

Steve Beckham