Bomarc
if the copilot was dancing on the rudder pedals in an excessive fashion, why wouldn't the captain say, "I'VE GOT IT" and take over control? Why nothing like, "what the hell are you doing to the rudder? on the CVR...if this is on the CVR please let us all know.
you are apparently convincing yourself, as many people do in many incidents, that 'there is more to this than meets the eye!'. That 'we are not being told the full story!'. The Captain was not flying,
his feet would not have been on the pedals. When the vortex encounter hit, it was obviously very powerful. He would have been more concerned about watching the situation. If he felt the copilot was handling it and responding correctly, I believe he would not have been looking down at the pedals (more important to monitor what was happening), or placing his own feet on them as this would interfere with the copilot's handling. Why should he take control immediately? Seeing the aileron control moved in front of his nose, he would be confident the copilot was responding. I am sure he was probably unaware of large rudder inputs in the buffeting, turbulence and strong roll being experienced. So please don't lead yourself up a wrong track!