LAX82FUQ15

The acft was built as a one-time only acft for record breaking distance flying, presumably for an around-the-world flight without refueling. Immediately after takeoff, the plt radioed the chase plane that he had some minor problem & was going to land. After turning final the plt reported "something broke, I'm going in..." The acft crashed at a slight nose down attitude 1/2 mi from the end of the rwy. Continuity of flight control was established & no evidence of preimpact flight control was evident. There were no drawings or data available for the design of the acft. The fuselage & empennage reportedly had not been static tested. A break at the rear of the cockpit appeared to be in an area of poor design. The composite structure behind the cockpit rails looked questionable in its cross-sectional area to handle the bending loads in this area. An in flight separation of the fuselage at the rear of the cockput by as much as 1 inch would have placed the stabilizer in a 3 deg nose up angle rendering the elevator insufficient to hold the nose up.