Incident Overview
A pilot performing an air show car top takeoff and landing routine reported a sequence of events that led to structural damage to the airplane. According to the pilot, after completing a landing and waving to the crowd, the pilot and the driver of the car positioned the aircraft at the departure end of the runway and began the takeoff roll.
Sequence of Events
The tail of the airplane lifted off as expected. The driver of the car was to reach a speed of 43 miles per hour. The pilot stated that he was watching for the latching mechanism to release the left main landing gear tire assembly first, then the right main landing gear tire. During actuation of the release system, the forward section of the wheel stops fell forward and downward to a point just below parallel with the ramps. After the tires were released, the pilot applied full power and pulled back on the control stick. The airplane rolled forward into the concave wheel stops.
The tail wheel then struck a support tube on the car just above the rear window and bounced slightly. For a brief moment, the tail wheel was free from the structure on the car before once again becoming entangled in the left hand ramp on the car. At this point, forward movement became lateral movement to the left. As the airplane rotated and rolled to the left, the left hand elevator contacted the outside of the left hand ramp and was crushed, twisting the entire empennage. The left wing tip dipped and struck the ground.
Damage
The accident resulted in damage to the left elevator, which was crushed, and the entire empennage was twisted. The left wing tip also struck the ground.