Accident Details
On the day after arriving at Siletz Bay State Airport, a pilot and his family returned to the airport to depart. The pilot had secured the Cessna 172N's controls with the aircraft's gust lock after the previous day's arrival. Marginal VFR conditions were present, and the pilot waited two hours for weather improvement, which occurred only slightly. The pilot stated, "...by now we are tired of waiting and want to go home..." and decided to make a brief flight to evaluate the weather. He continued, stating "...With my mind focusing on weather conditions I depart[ed] without doing a complete preflight. The gust lock remain[ed] in...."
Takeoff and Abort
During the takeoff roll, the pilot was unable to rotate the aircraft's nose. Realizing the aircraft would not be able to clear obstacles in its climb path, he aborted the takeoff. The aircraft rolled beyond the downsloping upwind end of the runway and impacted trees and brush.
Checklist Item
The third item in the 'BEFORE TAKEOFF' checklist for the Cessna 172N states: 'Flight Controls - FREE and CORRECT.'