I was reliably informed that the reason for the T cyclic is that it enables the pilot to raise the cyclic from his lap thereby allowing access to his lap . This can be useful,say in the event of having a 19 year old girl in the passenger seat who wishes to gain entry into the pilots pocket for a mint or other sweet ... this allows her to put her head down to the pocket entrance to see where the sweets are lurking . Birddog particularly likes this feature and is often to be found with his pockets bulging with all sorts of treats when he is flying .
I know your a bit too old for this sort of thing TC but generally only the young pups fly these things .