This is what they were flying...

As I sadly announced a couple of days ago, a friend of ours was killed
in a plane wreck west of Iowa City. He (and a buddy) were ferrying
something called a "Spencer Air Car" back from Seattle, for a third-
party buyer. According to eye-witnesses, the engine failed. (They
had been stuck in Idaho for five days, waiting for parts -- so
apparently this plane was giving them some problems along the way.)

Here's a picture of a similar plane: http://dougnlinap.home.mindspring.com/Home.html
It's basically a homebuilt Republic Seabee, but with one important
difference: It's apparently all-wood construction.

Looking at the design, I'd say an off-airport landing in anything less
than ideal conditions will be fatal, since that big engine and prop is
hanging right above and behind your head. Hit anything moderately
hard on the ground, and you'll have an O-360 with a pair of Ginsu
knives coming right through the cockpit.

No one really knows what happened, yet -- and maybe we never will
know. But in this plane, if you got slow during an engine-out
landing, or tried to pull up over that last fence and stalled, a hard
landing that would be survivable in a spam can would result in a very
bad day in this particular aircraft.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"