FTW83FA288

Reportedly, the plt had previously flown in a rotec ralley iii ultralight, but handled the controls for only a few minutes. After assembling this ultralight, N148RE, from a kit, he made the necessary ground checks & preflt inspection, then took off on the 1st test flt. After takeoff, he started a left turn. While in the turn, he allowed the airspeed to decrease & the left wing began to stall. However, at this point, he became confused about the operation of the flight controls & pulled back on the stick instead of pushing it forward. This resulted in a full stall. Before he could recover from the stall, the ultralight crashed in a nose low, left wing down attitude. The rotec rally iii was equipped with an overhead control stick. The plt was accustomed to flying conventional acft with a stick on the floor. He stated there was no mechanical failure of the acft & that it performed well.