I was a passenger on an Ozark Airlines DC3 eons ago. I was extolling the airline to my seatmate. He was very quiet. Then he told me about the time he was a passenger on an Ozark DC3 which took off with the external elevator (or was it rudder?) locks in place. They did a very conservative circuit and landed.
So, yes, I'd guess that the Captain you quote was telling the truth.