CHI94LA131

The pilot in command knowlingly departed on a cross country flight with an inoperative wet compass, set his directional gyro 90 degrees off in flight, and became disoriented in deteriorating weather. He elected to land in a short, soft, wet sod field to find out his location, then took off again with weather estimated at 800 ft overcast, 2 miles in rain. During the initial takeoff climb, in controlled flight, the airplane impacted trees at the departure end of field.

On April 11, 1994, at 1430 central daylight time, a Cessna 172, N4253L, operated as a rental aircraft by VanReeth Aviation, Inc., of Morris, Illinois, contacted trees during takeoff from an off airport sod field near Edina, Missouri, and was destroyed. The instrument rated commercial pilot/flight instructor and passenger were not injured. Instrument meteorological conditions were reported at the nearest weather observation facilities at the time of the accident, the pilot reported the weather at the accident as 800 overcast, 2 miles in rain, and no flight plan was on file. The flight operated under 14 CFR Part 91 as a business flight and was on a return leg from Pella, Iowa, to Morris, Illinois.

The pilot reported knowlingly departing with an inoperative wet compass. He reported that on the return leg, he aligned his directional gyro with a road 90 degrees from his actual heading. The directional gyro then indicated a flight direction of east, while the actual route of flight was southerly into deteriorating weather. The pilot reported that he became disoriented and landed in a field to determine his location. He elected to takeoff again to attempt to reach an airport for fuel. Once airborne on his takeoff, he recognized that he could not abort but would not clear trees at the end of the field. The airplane contacted the trees, came to a stop and settled vertically to the the ground.