20111230029389A

The pilot stated that he had made a series of short flights "in ground effect" on runway 32 for a flight check in reference to an adjustment to increase the angle of incidence of the left wing to correct for a left rolling tendency. The pilot had confirmed that the adjustments made had corrected the rolling tendency and upon touch down he applied the brakes. The pilot stated that upon touch down, (approximately 400 feet from starting point) the aircraft's airspeed was around 55 KTS, at which point he applied the brakes. During the application of the brakes at approximately 475 feet, the aircraft became uncontrollable and would not decelerate with the brake lever engaged. The pilot believed the throttle was closed, but was not completely sure. (It was noted upon our arrival that the throttle lever, located between the pilots legs was pulled aft, which is the closed position) the aircraft pulled quickly to the left from the runway centerline for approximately 300 feet. The pilot attempted to correct, by steering with pedals, which caused the aircraft to veer back to the right from the edge of the runway at 775 feet and then quickly back to the left at approximately 1005 feet, during which point the aircraft entered into a skid, nose pointing left. The aircraft travelled approximately 200 feet in a sideways skid on the runway and then off into soft soil. The nose wheel and left main wheel marks on the runway and soil show signs of converging over this distance. At approximately 1380 feet the right wing tip contacted the ground causing the aircraft to cartwheel over onto into an inverted position with the nose pointed toward the direction of the skid. The pilot stated that he had been adjusting the brakes earlier in the day because they would not hold the aircraft during a power run at 2950 RPM. He stated he adjusted them by tightening the bolts that connected the inner and outer brake caliper. During the brake adjustments, the pistons on both calipers would not retract and he had to force them back in and stated that they were working after he finally was able to retract them. He did not adjust the control rod connecting the lever to the master cylinder stating that the instructions told him if it appeared that this rod required adjustment then the master cylinder was to be replaced. His adjustment was made by tightening the nuts on the AN4-16 bolts securing the brake caliper halves and linings to the caliper. He also stated that the brakes were extremely hot after taxiing to the hangar. He performed adjustments several times. The tire marks could be seen on the runway, but were very faint; the tires also did not show signs of hard braking or flat spots. The deceleration "s" shaped trail could be easily noted as viewed from a distance and collaborate the events the pilot described. The nose gear strut and fork are bent toward the left and the wooden propeller was noted to be broken on both ends approximately one forth missing from one side and two thirds from the other when striking the ground as the plane came to rest in the inverted position. Larger pieces of the propeller were located lying on the top of the ground approximately five feet in front of the spinner. The bottom surface of the left hand wing was buckled two feet from the outboard strut attachment and left wing strut was deformed.