Originally Posted by
42go
Last time I flew a Cub I would have had to do more than undo my straps to 'fall out' and hit the tailplane?? Was he making his way back along the outside of the fuselage to check the rudder?
I wondered that too. It may be, since he was a retired man, he was somewaht stiff and found it hard to turn around ? I have one friend like that, who has great difficulty climbing into his aircraft but is fine once aboard. Undoing all the harness while airborme seems counter-intuitaive to me; I'd have perhaps slipped off the shoulder straps, which would still let me turn around enough to see the tail. As an ex-airline pilot, he will have been much more used to the idea of flying whilst not strapped in, and to tthe idea of moving around in the aircraft while flying. Maybe his background lulled him. Horrible accident - and yes the possibility of a tailwheel steering hang up causing this sort of effect sounds very plausible,