Am I to understand that you have never gone to the mechanical stop in any plane? Did someone tell you never to go to the mechanical stops or from mechanical stop to mechanical stop during your control checks?
Am I to understand that you have never landed in a crosswind which required full control to the stop in order to maintain control?
Am I to understand you were told you could not go to the mechanical stop ?
I've been saying over and over that there are certain planes that have limiters (mechanical or lock outs) and that they are well covered in POH and in FAA examinations. I've mentioned placcards till I was blue in the face.
BUT THE FREAKING A 300 didn't have that now did it? Anyplace in the A300 manual from the 1990s that said: DO NOT USE FULL CONTROL THROW OF ANY CONTROLS STOP TO STOP?
IF SOMETHING IS OBVIOUS, does it need saying...YES...and if something is not obvious it really needs saying.
In one transport jet I flew, we could not take off unless the rudder limiter light was working properly and if it failed in flight we had a MANDATORY MEMORY ITEM of which speeds to use full or less rudder.
DID THE A300 have that ? I doubt it.
Maybe the designers assumed something about the A300
and when you ASSUME, you make an ASS out of U and ME
nope, don't blame the copilot...there may be dozens of men to blame, but he didn't have a placcard, or a POH limitation, or hours of lecture and examination.
But I will say this...when I first saw the A300, many years ago, the first thing I THOUGHT TO MYSELF WAS...GOSH THAT TAIL SECTION LOOKS WEAK.
But you see, that is just what I saw and didn't have a POH, placcard, or a lecture to tell me anything.
you don't have a second chance at a first impression.