ok I get departure stall. but why departure stall?

[A64Pilot]

2 hours ago, midlifeflyer said:

Isn't it standard in a tailwheel to taxi with the stuck full aft?

Depends on the weight and design of aircraft, little ones like Cubs and Champs yes. Bigger heavier ones like Thrush Crop Dusters and T-6 Texans and the P-51 No, because only little airplanes have steerable tailwheels, larger ones have locking tailwheels, the Thrush and P-51 etc unlock their tail wheels when the stick is full forward, so you taxi with hands off the stick letting it fall forward. Others have an additional lever to lock or unlock their tailwheel.

The AH-64 locked and unlocked it’s with a toggle switch

But holding the stick back can be unsafe in a tailwind as the tailwind will lift the tail, just the opposite of what your trying to do with holding the stick back.

‘This is a safety feature because an unlocked tail wheel on a larger more powerful aircraft could lead to loss of control. So tying the unlock to the stick makes it impossible to takeoff or land with an unlocked tailwheel.

The steerable tailwheel didn’t exist until BD Maule invented it and put it into production in 1941 and is only used on little airplanes, there are others too now of course.

[jetdriven]

The NTSB preliminary report is out. The control lock was engaged

[Shadrach]

4 hours ago, jetdriven said:

The NTSB preliminary report is out. The control lock was engaged

The control lock was found undamaged in the wreckage. This and other evidence has led the NTSB to the conclusion that it was engaged. No question that he had a control issue.  This airplane did not have a locking tail wheel.  Looking at the video, it looks like there is a distinct increase in pitch a few moments after the initial take off. I think that may have been caused by the pilot running the trim down, which would have the opposite effect with the elevator locked.

[Pinecone]

Stick forward/stick back, with tailwheel you fly the airplane any time you are in it and it is not tied down or in a hangar (with the door closed).

[EricJ]

An NTSB rep discusses the accident with Paul Bertorelli on Avweb.   It's a good discussion and pretty informative.
 

 

[EricJ]

FWIW, the NTSB docket cited in the above video is available here:

https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=103534

Pics below are from "NTSB CONTROL LOCK STUDY".

Here are a couple of pertinent pics of the control lock.   From the vid, and in the pic below, nearly full rudder travel is available with the lock in place.   The lock itself is obscured and difficult to see from the pilot position when installed.   Discussed in the vid is that there was significant evidence in the crash that the lock was installed at the time of the crash.