Remembering John Denver

[Paul in NZ]

shame he didnt take up flying sooner

He did - he was a pretty experienced and well qualified pilot. The experimental plane he died in had a strange layout and when it ran out of fuel in the main tank at low altitude there was no room to recover.

[Swoop]

The experimental plane he died in had a strange layout and when it ran out of fuel in the main tank at low altitude there was no room to recover.

Umm... The Long EZ isn't "experimental" ("homebuilt" would be a better description) but a widely used aircraft around the world. Oddly a very stable aircraft.
The fuel issue coupled with an inexperienced pilot (for that type of aircraft) led to disaster.

http://www.airsafe.com/events/celebs/denver.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutan_Long-EZ