Incident Description
The airplane landed on Runway 17L, which measures 10,001 feet in length and 100 feet in width. The pilot, a newly certificated private pilot, stated that he did not apply enough aileron into the right crosswind, resulting in the airplane drifting to the left of the runway centerline. He hesitated to initiate an aborted landing because the airplane was too close to the runway edge. When he eventually decided to abort and applied full power, the left horizontal stabilator struck a taxiway sign as the airplane lifted off. The pilot was able to land the airplane on the remaining runway.
Pilot Account
The pilot reported a total flight time of 48 hours. He acknowledged that his failure to apply proper crosswind correction led to the drift. His hesitation to abort was due to the airplane's proximity to the runway edge, but he ultimately chose to go around.
Weather Information
A weather observation made shortly before the accident indicated winds from 200 degrees at 6 knots, consistent with a right crosswind for Runway 17L.