..did they use manually attached gust locks in WW2? in a quick search, I see the surface control locks instead of manually mounted ones...?..they are locked and unlocked from the controls? ..I was reading about this 1952 transport crash because the gust locks were not removed 1952 Moses Lake C-124 crash - Wikipedia Gust lock - Wikipedia
Must admit I've never heard of 'gust locks" before. According to this, the original B-17 prototype crashed in 1935 after the crew forgot to disengage them- Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress - Wikipedia I'm guessing they were controlled from the cockpit? B-17 Pilot's checklist, 1942. LIFE
..yes, that was in the wiki article..I never heard of it before, either....I thought I read they put a ''fail safe'' feature in them.....or else, I would think I would've seen them before, for crash reasons
The "fail safe" measure, at least for the Model 299, was that when the controls were fully locked, the stick was pushed back that prevented the pilots from getting in their seats until the controls were unlocked. The problem was that there was an intermediate setting permitting limited movement of the control surfaces, for taxiing and engine runup. When the engines were tested, the personnel left the control lock in the intermediate position, and the pilots forgot or never fully checked the control lock.
Control locks were relatively new, and the Model 299 was one of the first aircraft to use them. AFAIK, all of the US combat air craft had control locks in the cockpit. But, I am not sure about the utility & observation aircraft.
As an aside, concerning the Model 299. Some witnesses reported that two of the engines failed on one wing, thus causing the almost 180 degree turn. This appears to have been glossed over, and hardly investigated, and nowadays, barely mentioned. This was likely because, if true, it would have meant the crash was due to faulty design or equipment. A death knell for the B-17. However, by blaming the pilots for the crash, no failure of design or equipment would allow the project to continue. A project many wanted very badly.
..thanks for the replies...I've never heard of them before--the manually attached ones.....so, it would seem like they were not used as much ..and nothing is fail-safe with humans around
