CHI07CA275

The pilot allowed the approach speed to deteriorate during landing, causing an unrecoverable loss in altitude. The pilot made an off-field landing into a corn field.

The pilot was flying his homebuilt aircraft on its first flight. The pilot received a weather briefing approximately seven hours prior to the accident. He reported the preflight, takeoff and climb out were normal, but he "observed unusual turbulence" when he began a left turn to fly the traffic pattern. The pilot noticed that the engine oil temperature was nearing maximum and the oil pressure was fluctuating. The pilot aborted the first landing approach due to too fast of an airspeed. The pilot reported "I lowered the angle of final approach (no flaps) while attempting to maintain 80MPH. Less than .25 miles from touchdown, I attempted recover from pitching upward by reducing power (approx. 50 feet above corn field]. I had over-corrected on power reduction. There was no stall. The airplane had slowed and abruptly settled into the corn. My last control input...was to try pitching the nose as high as possible. " The pilot stated that the airplane settled to the ground in a slightly nose down attitude. The pilot reported the landing gear had extensive damage, the leading edge of the wings outboard of the fuel tanks and wing control surfaces were damaged.