WPR12CA129

The airplane owner/pilot stated that he overflew the airstrip, which was oriented northeast/southwest in hilly terrain, and saw that the windsock indicated light wind from the southwest. He entered a left traffic pattern for a landing to the northeast (downwind). When the airplane was about halfway down the airstrip, it had still not touched down, and the pilot decided to abandon the landing attempt. He applied takeoff power, pitched and trimmed for a climb, established a positive rate of climb, and retracted the flaps. The airplane did not appear to be outclimbing the rising terrain, so the pilot increased the pitch attitude in an attempt to increase the climb rate. The stall warning sounded a few times, and, each time, the pilot readjusted the pitch as necessary to silence the warning. The pilot continued to fly the runway heading because he did not want to attempt any turns and thereby risk an aerodynamic stall. The airplane impacted terrain about 1.6 miles from and about 1,000 feet above the midpoint of the airstrip. A fire, first visible on the right side of the cowling near the battery, quickly ensued, which consumed the fuselage and wings. The pilot reported that he did not experience any mechanical conditions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

The airplane owner/pilot stated that he took off from the southwest runway (runway 22) at his home airport and flew to an unpaved airstrip located in hilly terrain about 2 miles to the northwest. He overflew the destination airstrip, which was oriented northeast/southwest (approximately 020/200 degrees magnetic), and saw that the windsock indicated light winds from the southwest. He entered a left-hand traffic pattern for a landing to the northeast (downwind). When the airplane was approximately halfway down the airstrip, it had still not touched down, and the pilot decided to abandon the landing attempt. He applied takeoff power, pitched and trimmed for a climb, established a positive rate of climb, and retracted the flaps. The airplane did not appear to be outclimbing the rising terrain, so the pilot increased the pitch attitude in an attempt to increase the climb rate. The stall warning sounded a few times, and each time the pilot readjusted the pitch as necessary to silence the warning. The pilot continued to fly the runway heading, since he did not want to attempt any turns, and thereby risk an aerodynamic stall. The airplane impacted terrain about 1.6 miles from, and about 1,000 feet above, the midpoint of the airstrip. A fire, first visible on the right side of the cowling near the battery, quickly ensued, which consumed the fuselage and wings. The passenger and pilot escaped the airplane with minor injuries. The pilot reported that he did not experience any mechanical conditions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.