Originally posted by BUG_EAF322
His engine managment seemed not to be that natural.
poor guy
I have heard from a very reliable source close to Ethell and the guy who rebuilt the plane that it had nothing to do with engine management.
For some reason, the canopy was off, Jeff was out of his harness, and the fuel switches were in the wrong position. There was a fire in the center nacelle, where there should have been no fire. Evidence points to a fuel leak in the very modified fuel system (all the tanks had either been removed or replaced with plain aluminum tanks that were not P-38 type tanks) that starved the engine and also caused a fire. The ONLY reason to have the canopy off and be out of your harness is an attempt to bail. Jeff was at less than 1000 feet when he went into the flat spin. People who would know say Jeff was trying to get away from a fire.
Word has it that Bruce Pruett, owner of the plane Ethell was killed in, is suing Jack Erickson, the guy that rebuilt both Pruett's plane (it was natural aluminum finish) and the plane Ethell flew in the videos (an olive drab plane owned by Erickson). The deal was that Pruett bought one of the planes, then bought the other to use to learn to tear them down, intending to scrap the second plane. Fast forward 20 years, and Erickson sees both planes. Erickson makes a deal with Pruett to restore one plane in exchange for the other. Ethell learned to fly P-38s in Erickson's plane which was actually finished first, and rebuilt to original specs. A couple weeks or so later, Ethell came back to fly Pruett's plane, it was to be flown to the P-38 Assn Reunion, and then to the Smithsonian. Ethell was to be the pilot for both flights. There is evidently a dispute between Pruett and Erickson over the fuel system. Pruett specified that the fuel system be modified in the manner described, I understand the dispute MAY be over how well it was done. And the fact that Ethell was flying the plane and evidently unfamiliar with the modifications. A search of the FAA site will get you the crash report.
It is very ironic that if you read that article, you'll see where Ethell commented on the very mistake that killed him. It must be said, to be fair to Ethell, that he was familiar with the fuel system of the P-38, but not THAT P-38.