Incident Summary
During the takeoff roll, the engine's revolutions per minute (rpm) dropped to 2600 and began running roughly. Shortly after becoming airborne, the pilot decided to perform a precautionary landing. While the aircraft was rolling on the runway during the landing, the left wing contacted a tree, resulting in substantial damage to the aircraft.
Pilot Actions
The pilot reported that during the engine runup, the propeller "acted slow," but he attributed this behavior to the cold weather conditions. After encountering the roughness during takeoff, he elected to return for a precautionary landing.
Damage
The left wing collided with a tree during the landing roll, causing substantial damage to the aircraft.
Prior Maintenance
Before this flight, the pilot had performed an oil change on the aircraft. He failed to properly install the new oil filter, which allowed oil to blow out of the engine. The oil loss likely contributed to the engine roughness and drop in rpm.