Met this guy Tony Albanese

[eagl]

I was at a gas station in Vegas wearing my flight suit on my way to work, and this guy in a wheelchair said hi and struck up a conversation.  I'm glad I take the PR part of my job seriously, because he was an interesting guy to talk to.  He was in a ford trimotor that crashed several years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3ZElqXZQSU

The dude got hosed by a bad lawyer, didn't get much of an insurance/liability settlement considering the shape he was in after the crash.  Tony had helped them fix a motor and convinced the pilot to conduct a test flight before carrying passengers, but the pilot didn't remove an external control lock on the tail so they had almost no rudder and elevator control.

Anyhow, he was a nice guy and I'm glad I had the time to chat with him on the way to work.

[Slate]

  Tragic story.
   On an older craft I would expect a pilot to be a bit more careful checking controls before he taxied off. Wouldn't the controls be locked and you would feel it in the rudder and stick before takeoff? 
    I'm not a pilot and definitely unfamiliar with that aircraft. Perhaps the control lock allowed some movement but not the needed deflection for flight. 

[Puma44]

 Tragic story.
   On an older craft I would expect a pilot to be a bit more careful checking controls before he taxied off. Wouldn't the controls be locked and you would feel it in the rudder and stick before takeoff?  
    I'm not a pilot and definitely unfamiliar with that aircraft. Perhaps the control lock allowed some movement but not the needed deflection for flight.  

The age of the aircraft makes no difference whether it an old antique or a brand new one.   A pilot has to do a thorough and proper preflight before flying.  This isn't the first time an aircraft has taken off with gust/control locks installed and it won't be the last.  Part of the preflight walk around is checking controls surfaces for proper movement and that control locks are removed.  After engine start and before takeoff, flight controls are again checked for free and correct movement.  When one of these type incidents occur, it's a result of no or incomplete preflight and/or not using the checklist.  

Adherence to preflight and pre-takeoff checklists is an absolute must do event.  There are instances where flight control linkages have been reversed during maintenance work and had it not been for vigilant preflight checks, a bad day would have been had by all.

[Skyguns MKII]

This isn't the first time an aircraft has taken off with gust/control locks installed and it won't be the last.  Part of the preflight walk around is checking controls surfaces for proper movement and that control locks are removed.  

one of the "red assfault" style videos my instructor showed our class of future AMT's