In Oct 1964 I was on temporary duty with an H-19 from Ellsworth flying a congressional observation team between FT. Leonard Wood and the local test range. Joint USAF and Army exercises were underway there. We were not allowed to fly above 400 feet because the fast movers flew at 500 feet and up. I took a USAF Colonel out to one of the sites. He rode in the Co-pilots seat. I did not have crew chief or anyone else with me.

When I landed, the Colonel got out and dropped his seat belt down beside the collective where it fell under the collective when I took off. I did not notice it and when I took off I quickly discovered that I could not lower the collective. I realized that I was in deep kimshie. Finally as I broke through our 400 foot ceiling restriction, I tightened the throttle friction, unbuckled my seat belt and stood up in the seat. I reached over and lifted the collective and removed the seat belt without crashing but with some wild gyrations! Lesson learned!

Don Carty