A few TAL pilots where pretty leery of the 185.
Mike was one of them and avoided it.
One day a training pilot grabbed Mike and a 185 at Hagen and said to me get in the back for a bit of a load we going flying.
Unfortunately the 185 he chose didnt have rudder pedals on the right hand side.
Mike planted his big number 16 boots on the pedals gave it the tit and off we went.
After several pig roots and lurches down the runway Mike managed to get airborne off the grass verge at not more than 30 degrees to the centre line.
Around we went in the circuit for a landing.
I knew by the sight of the fire truck moving along the runway we were gonna die.
It turned out to be about the shortest landing Ive ever seen in a 185 just an enormous ker--bloody---rash ! followed by a sickening ground loop and everything stopped.
When the dust settled a black face holding a firehose was looking through the windscreen with a big buai grin.
Mike was never again asked to fly the 185 .
