EUF trim
Just had a talk with a wise man who used to flight test these things in the dim dark ages. Seems EUF had a manual trim and indeed the electric ones could be a bit dodgy. The Fletcher has a powerful all moving tailplane with a large trim tab. If the trim is not set for take off for some reason control can be maintained but it may take two hands and arms to do so. The elevator has good pitch up movement but not so great on pitch down. The passengers were probably not restrained by any clip or similar to the Aircraft in which case they would tumble to the back at high pitch angles. There are known C of G issues with the Fletcher but various turbine varients have been around for the last 40 years or so as has the utility configeration. In terms of weight as a topdresser up to 1500 kg could be carried maybe not all legally. But with a hopper rear movement of load is obviously not possible and it can be dumped if in trouble. Eight pax would be around 800 kg total well within its capabilities. The Cresco is used for Parachute work more than the Fletcher conversion, of which only a few are used as Jump ships. This aircraft was recently converted and it was a quality job. She had been working at Fox for quite a few weeks so while not a long history not the 'first day on the job' either. The skydiving operator has been around for about 20 years and is well respected. Just some random snippets make of it what you will. The big question remains why this flight went so wrong while thousands of others have not.