ERA17LA324

According to airline transport pilot, during the takeoff roll, the airplane veered left. The pilot tried to correct the turn without success, and the airplane subsequently departed the left side of the runway, struck a taxiway light, and then came to rest in grass adjacent to the runway. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage and right wing. The pilot reported that he had owned the airplane for about 1 month, during which time he observed that he had to continuously apply right rudder for the airplane to taxi straight ahead, which he thought was normal for that airplane. Examination of the tailwheel assembly revealed that, when the rudder pedals were centered, the rudder was also centered. However, the tailwheel remained in a left-turn position and required about 75% right rudder input to center the tailwheel, and with full-right rudder deflection, the tailwheel turned very little to the right. A review of the maintenance records revealed that maintenance, including the installation of a new upper mount assembly and a new tailwheel strut, was performed on the tailwheel assembly about 3 years before the accident. Given the pilot's report that he had always needed to apply right rudder for the airplane to taxi straight ahead, it is likely that the tailwheel assembly was improperly rigged following the previous maintenance.

On August 10, 2017, about 1700 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 195, N2100C, was substantially damaged during takeoff from Newnan Coweta County Airport (CCO), Newnan, Georgia. The airline transport pilot and passenger were not injured. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the local flight.According to the pilot, he taxied the airplane to the active runway for takeoff. During the takeoff roll, the airplane veered to the left. The pilot attempted to correct the turn but was unsuccessful. The airplane departed the left side of the runway, collided with a taxiway light and came to rest in the grass adjacent to the runway. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the fuselage and the right wing was buckled. An examination of the rudder and tail wheel assembly revealed that when the rudder pedals were centered, the rudder was also centered. However, the tail wheel remained in a left turn position. It required approximately 75% right rudder input to center the tail wheel. With full right rudder deflection, there was very little right turn in the tail wheel. Review of the airplane's maintenance logbooks revealed that maintenance was performed on tailwheel assembly, that included the installation of a new upper mount assembly with channel kit as well as an overhauled tailwheel strut in August 2014. The airplane accumulated 48.5 hours since that overhaul. The last annual inspection was completed on March 23, 2017. During an interview the pilot stated that he purchased the airplane one month prior to the accident. He operated the airplane a total of about 12 hours, which included 15 landings. He received his tailwheel endorsement on July 27, 2017. He further stated that while taxiing, he had to "keep the rudder in" to taxi straight ahead, which he thought was a normal characteristic of the airplane.