"Flyingmonk" wrote in message
ups.com...
The accident investigation team attributed the probable
cause to a foul up between the yoke (the 38 has a yoke not a stick) and a
kneeboard Hoof was wearing on his left knee at the time.

Shame...

yes it was, and now Ray Hanna is gone as well. Ray and Hoof were friends.

I see I said Hoof had the kneeboard on his left knee. It was his right.
The P38J he was flying, although it has boosted ailerons, bleeds a ton of
energy in a multiple roll. I've always thought Hoof might have been just a
few knots shy of what he needed at initiation for that second roll, but I
hate to second guess him on that. The kneeboard definitely could have been a
player in the crash as far as I'm concerned. I don't like them and never
have. I don't recommend them to any pilot who comes close enough to hear me
on the issue. The P38 has a pretzel yoke that quite easily could have become
fouled in a kneeboard worn on a pilot's right knee, especially rolling to
the left. During an aileron roll, the nose describes an arc both above and
below the horizon. A pilot aileron rolling a P38 would be applying back
pressure to a roll set in the vertical plane at about 30 degrees nose high,
then initiating full deflection aileron into the direction of roll. Bottom
rudder is applied and released almost immediately as adverse yaw is
corrected and the nose pinned. Following the roll around the natural nose
arc, the bottom left corner of the yoke in a P38 could easily become fouled
with a kneeboard. The yoke would be passing with full aileron applied and
would be right there in the vicinity of the kneeboard as the plane rolled
through inverted. As back pressure would be coming back in on the backside
of the roll, the yoke could have hit the kneeboard denying recovery inputs.
In Hoof's accident, impact was past wings level with the airplane still
rolling left. This indicates something could have jammed the yoke on him.
I've always thought it was the kneeboard.
Dudley Henriques