What happened
A pilot, who was also a licensed aviation mechanic, had recently completed the installation of wheel penetration skis on the main landing gear of his personal airplane. During a subsequent test flight, the newly installed skis immediately rotated into a near vertical, nose-up position.
The pilot continued to fly around the traffic pattern and performed a landing in snow located just before the start of the runway. Because the skis remained in their near vertical orientation, the aircraft's behavior changed during the landing roll. One of the skis broke off, which caused the gear leg to penetrate the snow. This impact subsequently caused the right wing and the elevator to strike the snow surface.
The investigation
An examination of the skis following the accident revealed that the ski check cables located at the heel of the skis were excessively long.