Yes, Des made a very memorable impression upon me! He gave an excellent presentation which essentially was "You're a test pilot, so you're going to also be asked to demonstrate the airplane at airshows, here's what you need to think about.....". Though I have very rarely needed to demonstrate during an airshow, I certainly embrace his wisdom. I was a jump seat passenger on the DHC Buffalo during the Farnborough airshow in 1984 two day before the accident flight there. As I worked with the pilot, Bill Loverseed, to bring the event into greater understanding, I could see the pressures to demonstrate well, and be safe. Bill was very experienced at air demonstration, having been a Red Arrows team leader, and I understood the unusual capabilities of the Buffalo, and demonstration pressures, which led Bill into a bad situation. Des' presentation really connected with me.
I never saw the Patchen Explorer, but Des and I discussed it, and some of it's characteristics. I had ten years of flying the modified Teal at that time, including the original design approval test flying, and understood some of it's quirks. I ended up buying it, and still fly it. From the aft cabin bulkhead back, the explorer, and my Teal are the same plane. I know that Des understood it well, though he perhaps had less opportunity to get to know it's quirks, as I think it did not fly often. In the case of an engine failure, it glides, but stretching a glide is out of the question, thinking "autorotation" approach is better, their sink rate becomes troublesome when they slow. Des may have been caught out by a high rate of descent, which could not be arrested, which would not be the first time for a Teal!
Des will always remain one of those people I think of with a warm thought, as having added to my wisdom and safe thinking about flying!