"John Harper" wrote in message
news:1086589290.295808@sj-nntpcache-3...
So I think I must have flown the Decathlon shortly before or after
you... what time did you fly? I had an interesting experience, that
I'm NOT in a big hurry to repeat. I did a fairly unsatisfactory
Immelman and as I was recovering from the resulting
partial split-S, the stick wouldn't come back. Fortunately I've
been taught to expect the rear stick to get tangled up in things
so I groped around behind me and discovered that the soft
cushion on the rear seat squab had come adrift and was blocking
the stick. Once I dislodged it things worked properly and I
recovered, but I figured that further acro wasn't prudent.


snicker
So much for that checklist item "all loose items removed or secured" eh,
John?

Got an old aluminum E6B up the back side of my head for failing to check the
left seat pocket, the fuel tester missed me. My CFI asked, (between
chuckles) "you got it?". Yea, I got it, literally.

On a serious note, something as simple sounding as this, could very well
have been the straw that broke the camel's back (in a chain of errors) and
gotten me....well....very dead.

Sorry for the dark cloud but it's true and real,
Marty