Originally Posted by
blind pew
Dave given that my memory of triple stuck valve flight controls warning is correct and that the tailplane incidence was driven by a screw jack how was it that it wasn't the elevator attachment? Don't suppose you have a schematic?
or maybe my incorrect use of terms as twas hydraulic rams?
I think your memory is playing tricks on you (or else mine is!) - I don't recall any screwjacks involved.
The tailplane (in the days before we called them horizontal stabilizers) was moved by 3 hydraulic jacks in response to pitch (or a/p) inputs. The "elevator" wasn't really an elevator at all, it was a massive geared tab moved by a simple mechanical linkage to the stab. I suspect what you encountered was a failure of that linkage, which would indeed allow the tab to float freely.