"Kyle Boatright" wrote in message
. ..
The theory about that accident in the RV community is that the pilot had
used the seatbelt on the passenger's side as a control lock, was in a rush
to leave the show, and didn't do a control check before takeoff. With the
belt latched, the elevator was in an "up" configuration, and the rest,
unfortunately, is history.

That was a popular theory, true, and not just among RVers. However, the
NTSB carefully looked at the possibility and while they could not with 100%
certainty exclude that possibility, the investigation showed no evidence
whatsoever that the controls were secured by the seatbelt on takeoff, and
some reasonable evidence that they were not (in particular, there was no
burn residue of the seatbelt found on the control stick, in spite of there
being seatbelt burn residue elsewhere...also, several witnesses failed to
note any unusual deflection of the elevator, as would be readily apparent if
the theory were true).

The final NTSB conclusion was "The pilot's excessive climb rate, which lead
to his failure to maintain an airspeed above stalling speed", with the
"seatbelt control lock" theory carrying no weight at all.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief2.asp?...FA105& akey=1

Pete