Incident Overview
A private pilot was conducting landings in a left traffic pattern to Runway 32, while a student pilot was inbound on an instructional solo flight. The student pilot called that he was 4 miles north-northeast of the airport, and shortly thereafter, the private pilot called his downwind leg. The private pilot's airplane completed the downwind leg, then turned onto base, then onto final.
Collision Sequence
On final approach, the student pilot's airplane overtook the private pilot's airplane and collided with it. The propeller from the student pilot's airplane cut through the top of the right wing of the private pilot's airplane, and the left strut from the student pilot's airplane impacted the right fuselage of the private pilot's airplane. The two airplanes locked together, then made a slow, approximately 160-degree turn while descending rapidly to the ground, about 2,000 feet from the approach end of the runway.
Airport and Environmental Conditions
The airport did not have an operating control tower, and turns in the traffic pattern were to the left. At the time of the collision, the sun was about 90 degrees to the left of the airplanes, about 12 degrees above the horizon.