Well, actually "he didn't crash it" is true as a description of the violence of impact.
And it's true that I said the damage came at the end of a flat spin. But I also characterized it as really nothing more than a flat, hard landing. It really wasn't a crash in terms of violence.

What amazed a couple of us experienced guys was that the impact was so minor the cowl took no damage but the firewall was trashed. And that it was obvious the cowl had stopped the engine from going anywhere.

Keep in mind that the upper 1/3 of that firewall is attached to almost nothing. And that for some unimaginable reason, the cross bulkhead that is highest behind the firewall has the center removed. No lie. The picture showing the hole shows a horizontal bulkhead that appears to have it's center "crashed out". There is no center to it. Nothing was crashed out. It's intact from when it was installed. They removed half that crossmember when they laser cut it. There wasn't any "cross" wood in that thing when it was installed. AaaaaMazing!!! They didn't need the room for the gas tank. It's not even close to the firewall. And they certainly did not need to reduce the weight as much as that firewall needed the support. amazing....... The upper third of the firewall is glued to foam basically. Foam covered in 1/16 balsa.