20100520039909I

The pilot stated:subject: letter of explanation relating to expired charts and 14 CFR 91.103DATE: may 26, 2010FROM: blair clark millerto: inspector ronald horak, poi. My explanation for the expired IFR and VFR charts in the airplane I have no real acceptable excuse. I discontinued my jeppesen revisions due to the expense and the frequency of my flying. I stopped my part-time flying job with basco flying service back in 1998 and did very little flying and did not think it was cost effective to continue my updates on the IFR charts. If and when I did fly IFR I would borrow a friend's charts and plates prior to flying. I definitely do not teach my students to fly with expired charts. I did have a current VFR chart for my flight and was instructing my son at home with it and forgot to put it back into my flight bag. I am not the type of person that would lie about anything….I guess I could have lied and said the current chart was in my rental car or flight bag and not in the airplane, but the truth of the matter is that I did not have it with me and it was not in the airplane for my flight that I took on may 20, 2010.in my defense, I feel that I am a safe and competent pilot. I checked flight service three times on the morning prior to my flight. I also got on line (as I always do) onto aopa's web site for flight planning and even printed out the frequencies of the vor's enroute, and the frequencies for flight following. I did have a printed copy of the small chart that I printed off of the aopa web site. I also keep my GPS updated every 28 days and that was current. I also carry in my flight bag a spare portable narco nav/comm and a portable handheld GPS. In my opinion I am a safe pilot and do not take chances. I do not exceed my limitations. I changed my plans on the morning of may 20, 2010. I was originally going to fly into rostraver (kfwq) but I was advised by cleveland center that kfwq was IFR with low visibility, and that is why I picked Latrobe (klbe) as an alternate because I was not current on IFR and did not want to take any chances. My explanation for 14 CFR 91.103 is that I did check on the weather (three times on the morning prior to my flight) and once on the evening before the flight. I had enough fuel on board for five hours plus (I topped off my tanks prior to leaving kptw (90 gallons of fuel). I had other airports in mind for an alternative, one being johnstown and the other was Latrobe. I had information on the alternatives plus my planned destination as to runway lengths, frequencies and even the price of their fuel. I also keep the airplane flight manual and a check list in the airplane.I have no excuse for not having the current VFR charts for my flight, but I will definitely strive to never let that happen again. If I can be of any further help or if you need any other information please do not hesitate to call me or email me. My best to you and dean glasser. Both of you have been very helpful and I am sorry for all the grief that I may have caused to both of you. Respectfully,blair "clark" miller. The investigation revealed no malfunction of the landing gear system. An unintentional movement of the landing gear handle could cause the nose wheel weight on wheels switch to activate and begin a premature gear retraction, but neither person on board recalls moving the handle from the down position from the prior landing. Sequence of events:right wing tip struck pavementprop strikeaircraft became airborne and landed safely. Aircraft taxied to ramp unassisted. See attachment for:witness statements pilot narrativepic very co-operative.