NEWBERG, OR, USA
N191LM
NELSON CYGNET SF-2A
Following touchdown on the runway center line, the homebuilt tail-wheel equipped Cygnet SF-2A drifted left and the pilot-in-command applied right rudder to correct. The aircraft then veered to the right and, in spite of hard left brake and rudder application, departed the north edge of the runway, impacting a fence post. The accident flight was the pilot-in-command's first solo in the toe-brake equipped aircraft. She did possess approximately 100 hours in the tail-wheel equipped Citabria. This aircraft, however, was equipped with heel-brakes, rather than toe-brakes.
On July 13, 1998, approximately 1149 Pacific daylight time, a homebuilt Cygnet SF-2A, N191LM, registered to (as co-owner) and being flown by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage during a loss of control on landing rollout at the Chehalem Airpark, Newberg, Oregon. The pilot sustained minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions existed and no flight plan had been filed. The flight, which was personal, was to have been operated under 14CFR91, and originated at the accident airport approximately 1110. The pilot reported to the investigator-in-charge that the accident flight was her first solo in the toe-brake equipped, tail-wheel Cygnet SF-2A, and that she had logged more than 100 hours pilot-in-command time in the heel-brake equipped tail-wheel Citabria she co-owned. She had no other toe-brake experience other than that in the SF-2A aircraft. Winds at McMinnville Municipal airport 8 nautical miles south were recorded at 11553 hours as 4 knots from 350 degrees magnetic. The pilot also reported in her written statement that upon touchdown on the centerline of runway 25 at the Chehalem Airpark she "began applying brakes/rudder" and that the "plane went to (the) left slightly." She then "applied right rudder (and) the plane continued to go hard right dispite (sic) hard application of left rudder and brake." She then "applied throttle in an attempt to correct" and impacted a fence post approximately 50 feet north of the runway center line before coming to rest.
The pilot-in-command's failure to maintain directional control. Factors contributing were the pilot-in-command's lack of experience in make of aircraft (i.e., use of toe brakes) and the fence post.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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