Those years of reading Flying have paid off! I recognized it immediately - Pete Garrison's Melmoth. Do I get extra marks for naming the pilot?
Treaders' photo is of the early version, when it had a conventional stabilizer and an aluminium turtle-deck.
Melmoth met a sorry end and Pete had a lucky escape at Orange County Airport:
The career of Melmoth 1 ended, after nine years and 2,000 hours, at what is now John Wayne Airport in Orange County. I was holding short of the right runway waiting for takeoff clearance when a Cessna landing on the left went out of control and plowed through me. Both planes were totaled, but no one was hurt.