Dan did get some stuff wrong but the point I was driving at is the arrogance that appears to be displayed by a guy that buys a plane, doesn't register it, has no license, no training, and is reportedly warned by a few folks that see him doing taxi test up and down the runway that what he is about to do will get him killed ... and it did.
Many of us have dealt with or known people like this. I have such a person I'm presently dealing with that does some amazingly stupid things and, because he has gotten away with it, continues to do so. I watched him make a skidding turn to final one day that literally took my breath because I was sure it was gonna tuck a wing and put him in eternity. He got away with it and trying to explain to him what his instructor failed to get across to him only gets a reply that maybe he's a superior pilot and knows what he's doing.
How in the world do we get across to these people? The guy in question has already received a warning letter from the FAA for being reported to be flying without a certificate. He has (or had) an instructor that did sign him off for solo but that, IIRC, was over a year ago. I don't want to be the one to ruin his dream of flying but I also don't want to stand by and see him get killed.
Ideas?