3 ms·

"These flaws led from the builder's sincere desire to improve on Rutan's work, a goal that could actually be said to have been accomplished from an engineering

• wkat4242 4y ago
  It does look like this was a common change though considering there were 2 similar accidents before. Perhaps a community forum where this modification was proposed?
  • aidenn0 4y ago
    IIUC the two similar incidents were in the exact same plane (but did not cause a crash) not in a plane with a similar modification. [edit] > According to other pilots who were familiar with the airplane and/or had flown it, to change the fuel selector a pilot had to: 1) Remove his hand from the right side control stick if he was hand flying the aircraft; 2) Release the shoulder harness; 3) Turn his upper body 90 degrees to the left to reach the handle; and 4) Turn the handle to another position. Two pilots shared their experiences of having inadvertently run a fuel tank dry with nearly catastrophic consequences because of the selector and sight gauge locations[1]. Note "familiarity with the airplane" not "a similar Long EZ" which they use later to talk about investigators inadvertently depressing the rudder pedal when trying to use the valve. 1: https://www.avweb.com/flight-safety/close-up-the-john-denver-crash/ https://www.avweb.com/flight-safety/close-up-the-john-denver...