Sparky Imeson was a pilot who literally wrote the book on mountain flying for those of us who fly little airplanes. The mountains are a special environment, both for their beauty, which is especially relished from the air, and for their dangers. Sparky opened up a whole new world for pilots and saved a lot of lives. I was privileged to meet him a couple of years ago when he gave a seminar for a group of my pilot friends. He was a remarkable man, already in his 70s, who had had an illustrious career and, until just a few months before, had never had an accident. He related his accident and did not spare himself in criticism, as he had left behind some critical survival equipment that would have made getting out of the area he crashed a whole lot easier. We all learned a lot, and some of us changed our habits as a result.
A few days ago, he died in a crash quite close to his home. It's always dangerous to speculate on causes until the investigation is finished, but a picture of his airplane strongly suggests he had an in-flight fire, which can be extremely dangerous. As reliable as aircraft are today, they still can have problems, and very rarely, these problems can be unsurvivable, even for pilots as good and careful as Sparky. This kind of things ripples throughout the pilot community, and I am very sad.
RIP, Sparky.
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