Originally Posted by emjanssen
: "maybe because HE/THEY were eventually pulling 40kg they had zero reaction? Did the system work for them or against them?"
The flight control system was trying to prevent a stall by automatically pushing the nose down. Of course speed was dropping -- the pilot pulled the thrust levers back to idle and left them there.
The back-driven thrust levers continuously indicated their idle position by not moving.
As the plane tried to save itself by preventing a stall, the pilot fought against this, pulling back with increasing pressure.
The pitch control system was definitely working for him. Had it not resisted the pilot, he'd have probably have stalled it at a higher altitude out over the water.