WHY would you leave the copilot controls installed when carrying a non-pilot
passenger in that seat? What happened to you is the very reason I was told
that you want to ALWAYS remove controls unless the person sitting in that
seat is qualified to use them.


Removing the co-pilot controls requires an A&P, and theres frequently
not one available when you need one to do it. Most airplanes don't
have the ability to remove them at all. A friend of mine ground looped
in his Waco because a pax jammed his foot on a pedal in an attempt to
brace themselves during a landing. I'm avery guarded when theres a
non-pilot in the left seat, and the briefing always contains a series
of "don't touch this or else" messages. Non-pilots tend to listen to
messages like this because they're generally a little afraid of the
cockpit. My larger concerns are making sure that they don't carry
anything into the cockpit that might wind up jamming the controls,
and ensuring that they're very aware that the little red inflation
balls on their life vest can snag on the harness causing inadvertent
inflation.

Just because someone's a pilot doesnt keep'em from doing stupid stuff.
On a 1100nm ferry flight a month ago I took a friend of mine who's a
737 captain for Continental. Standard warnings issued during briefing,
he still managed to sit on the collective four times during the trip.
Each time he was really embarrassed and and it became the subject of a
ribbing or two since then.

Bell made it very clear in their training class that installation and
removal of the secondary controls was not an authorized pilot activity.
They also said the same is true of for doors. I'm not sure I agree with
either of these, but in the case of control installation I understand
why they have the policy; There was an accident where the PIC was in
the left seat and I think there was a beginner in the right. The cyclic
came out in-flight as a result of mis-installation, the result was
not good.

Bart